


Slayers Labyrinth

by Lsama_no_miko



Category: Labyrinth (1986), Slayers (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 07:06:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13806018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lsama_no_miko/pseuds/Lsama_no_miko
Summary: A x-over with my fave movie Labyrinth. Centers around everyone's favorite sorceress and trickster priest





	1. Chapter One "I Wish..."

        A redheaded girl stood in the center of a secluded clearing inside the town's park. Around her was the local gang of thugs and bandits who just happened to call themselves the Dragon Fangs. They all wore 1980's punk style outfits and black leather jackets with a dragon on the backs. One or two of them had spiked mohawks plus a disgusting amount of body piercing. All of them had a good share of scars and one even wore an eyepatch.  
The Dragon Fangs' leader leered at the girl then boldly stepped forward. "All right kid, fork over yer lunch money."  
        "Yeah, or you'll regret it if ya don't, little boy," piped up one member with a cotton candy pink hairdo.  
        Lina, for that was the girl's name, was incensed. She hated it when she was mistaken for a kid. Actually she hadn't minded it that much, she was rather short for her age of seventeen. What really got her angry was that they thought SHE was a boy. Again! This was the third time this week.  
        "That's it! I've had it with you calling me a kid and a boy! I'm a girl you damn idiots!"  
Several of the gang members laughed and began to make jokes about Lina's chest or lack thereof. Her face became bright red, but not from embarrassment. She began to chant a spell she'd been practicing on all week. Normally any intelligent person would run, but the thugs just laughed even more. For you see, this was a world that had almost abandoned and forgotten the use of magic over the centuries as mankind developed more and more useful machines that didn't have to rely on sorcerers to make them work. So Lina was no great sorceress.  
        However, she didn't know she'd have help this time in the form of a rather large, purple wolf hiding in the underbrush. It sat there on its haunches watching the whole scene with great amusement.  
        "Fireball!!!" she shouted as she hurled a glowing ball of flame at her tormentors, but it fizzled out before reaching them. The Dragon Fangs then laughed hysterically as they advanced menacingly.  
        In the shadows, the wolf scowled, if it was possible for a wolf to scowl that is. He watched as the now frightened girl threw another fireball. This time, the wolf sent some of its power to the fireball, and it grew to the size of a basketball and struck several of the Dragon Fangs, clearing an escape path for Lina.  
        Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Lina made a beeline for the opening and dashed out of the clearing at lightspeed. Once she was out of danger and its sight, the wolf took care of the rest of the gang.

        When she realized she was no longer in danger, the redhead plopped down on a park bench to catch her breath. She really hated running and she constantly wished she'd been able to cast a flying spell.  
        While resting, she began to ponder on the sudden success of casting a fireball that actually hit its targets. Had she mastered the spell or was it a fluke? She wasn't able to ponder more because a gonging sound reached her ears. Realizing it was the park's ancient clock in front of her, she checked her wristwatch with the clock's time.  
        "Chikuso! She's gonna kill me! I don't believe I'm this late!" With that Lina ran off at lightspeed for the second time that day.

        Standing on the front porch of their nicely kept lavender and green Victorian home, was the nightmare of all Lina's nightmares, her stepmother Luna. She was wearing a light white party dress and as usual, her long violet bangs hid her eyes.  
        "You're late," she said to the trembling girl before her who was now covered head to toe in sweat. "Again."  
        "I'm sorry, Luna-san." She refused to acknowledge this woman as her mother. Her mother had passed away a couple years ago and she was still feeling the loss. "I tried to get home in time, really I did."  
        Luna just sighed and stepped inside. "Come inside, Lina. And don't forget to take a shower before you do anything else."  
        Lina's father Vrumugan was standing in the foyer holding her new baby sister, Amelia. "Oh, welcome home Lina-chan," he said warmly, which was hard since he had a habit of talking in a monotone. "We were getting worried."  
        "You should phone if you're going to be late," added her stepmother. "If you had a date planned, you should have told us and we'd make other plans. A girl your age should be going on dates." Lina felt the tears start and she lowered her head, not wanted to give her the satisfaction of seeing her cry. "You know we hardly go out."  
        "You go out every weekend!' the redheaded girl shouted. Luna started to say something else, but decided against it, sensing her stepdaughter's distress. "I can't do anything right!" she yelled as she stormed up the stairs, causing little Amelia to wail hysterically. Luna looked exasperatedly at her husband.  
        "She's  _your_  daughter. Still, I can't see why she always treats me like I'm the wicked stepmother."  
        "I'll go talk to her honey," said Lina's father handing her the baby, which began to wail even more. Luna was one scary person.

        Inside her spacious, yet modest bedroom, Lina sat at her desk pouring over her spellbook. She had done as her stepmother had said and was now dressed in what she had dubbed her sorceress outfit. She wore a pair of tight magenta leggings with a matching tunic and a bright yellow halter top on top to make her chest appear bigger. A black headband held her otherwise unruly red hair at bay and a pair of boots and black belt finished it off. She rather liked this outfit than the itchy uniform she was forced to wear at school for it allowed more freedom of movement.  
        She had been staring at the same page since she got dressed, but had not realized it. She hated it when Luna did that to her. The woman knew the boys  _never_  asked her out so she took advantage of Lina's 'free time,' forcing her to baby-sit her infant sister almost every day. She also never missed a chance to shove the girl's shortcomings into her face.  
        Lina silently began to sob as the tears that threatened to fall earlier, finally did. An almost inaudible knock came from her door. "Lina, honey, can we talk?" came her father's monotone.  
        "There's nothing to talk about!" she snapped back, not even bothering to look from the book.  
        There was a moment of silence then her father's voice spoke again. "Listen, we fed Amelia and put her to bed. We won't be back till after midnight so you don't have to wait up for us."  
        Lina sat and listened as her father's footsteps disappeared down the stairs and heard the front door close.  
        "You really wanted to talk, didn't you?! Practically broke down the door!" she yelled to the room and plopped down not he bed covered with stuffed animals. She violently knocked off several of the dolls to make room for herself instead of carefully arranging them on the floor as she usually did. Rolling onto her side, Lina instinctively reached for her favorite animal and found it wasn't in the place she always put him. After a quick glance at the assaulted animals on the floor, she shot up from the bed and began to yell again.  
        "That witch was in my room again! I  _hate_  her!"  
        Having said her piece, she yanked the door open, nearly pulling it off the hinges and stomped into the nursery. The sudden noise woke the sleeping baby and Amelia once again broke the sound barrier. "I can't believe she'd do that to me! Again! She always tries to steal Jiras-chan from me!"  
        Ignoring the baby's screams, she reached into the crib and pulled out a ratty, old, stuffed fox with one eye missing, no whiskers, a bent ear and several bald spots. Clutching the animal to her, Lina began to cry again.  
        But Amelia refused to be ignored. "All right. Waddya want?! A story?!" Not waiting for an answer, she threw Jiras-chan onto the floor and picked up her baby sister, which seemed to calm down a bit. Lina paced the room and began her tale.  
        "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful, young, and very smart girl who was always made to do the chores and baby-sit her spoiled brat of a sister. Her father was bewitched by a very, evil and unjust (not to mention kowaii) sorceress who never gave her a truly kind word or let her go out on dates like she wanted.  
        "But what this sorceress didn't know was that a certain mazoku lord fell in love with the girl's charm and beauty and had given her special powers."  
        Amelia, now enrapt at the sound of her 'nee-chan's voice had completely forgotten to act like a spoiled brat and laid her head on the girl's shoulder.  
        "One day, when the mega-bitch had been particularly cruel to her and she couldn't stand the constant nit-picking, she called upon the mazoku lord for help," she continued.  
Outside the nursery window, a shadowy figure opened one cat-slitted eye in interest. 'Ma, ma I wonder if she'll really do it this time,' he thought.  
        "'Say the right words,' he said, 'and I will free you from this misery.' But the girl knew he would take the baby away and turn it into a mazoku forever. So she chickened out.  
        "However, the next day was even worse than before so the girl finally made up her mind." A storm had suddenly broken out and, of course, Amelia began to shriek and wail at each thunderclap. Nothing Lina did could calm the frightened infant. Lina had just about had it with everything that happened earlier and she made a decision to do something about her life. Thrusting the still crying baby over her head, she called out,  
        "Xellos Metallium, Lord of the Mazoku! I call upon thee and command thee! Take this child far away from here!" Feeling extremely uncomfortable at being so high in the air above her sister's head, the baby began to cry even harder.  
        The figure outside sighed disgustedly. 'Where in L-sama's name did she get that gibberish?! It doesn't even start with "I wish."'  
        Annoyed, and mildly disappointed, Lina put the baby back in her crib and picked up her discarded toy. As she was about to leave the room, she flipped the light switch and said quietly, "I wish Xellos would take you away... right now."


	2. Chapter Two "Sore wa..."

        Lina, concerned by her sister's sudden silence, flipped the light switch back on and tip-toed to the baby's crib. "Amelia?" she said quietly. There was no movement from the flannel pink blanket she had placed over her. Not even a sign of a tiny chest moving up and down as it breathed.  
        Truly frightened now, she slowly removed the blanket only to find that the baby was gone. She let out a blood curdling shriek as the storm outside began to pick up again. "Luna's gonna kill me!!!" She frantically looked all over the nursery, under furniture and in dark corners, hoping to find her baby sister, happily playing at some games only babies play.  
        Movement in one of the far corners caught her eye and she leapt toward it. "There you are, you little brat!" When she reached the corner, a hideous disfigured creature jumped at her, laughing. Lina screamed and frantically waved her arms to shoo it away, knocking it clear across the room in the process. She took a better look at it, now that it had been knocked unconscious.  
        It was a baby sized mazoku. She prodded it with one foot and it began to stir. Jumping back, Lina began to regret what she had said in anger only moments before. For some reason, her selfish wish had been granted and now her sister was in the clutches of the mazoku.  
        A soft chuckle made her turn around and thus taking her eyes off the tiny mazoku. The moment Lina's back was turned, it quickly vanished back to whence it came, laughing all the way. She stared at the purple haired man who had somehow managed to sneak into her house unnoticed.  
        He was dressed in a tailored purple business suit with a vest and shirt several shades lighter than the jacket and pants he was wearing. He had a rather pleased smile on his face. His eyes were closed and she was getting a very uneasy feeling from him.  
        "You're him, aren't you? The mazoku lord," she said timidly. His smile broadened, obviously enjoying her fear.  
        "Xellos Metallium, he said as he bowed with mock politeness. "You did the right thing by calling on me, Lina-chan. A powerful sorceress like yourself shouldn't be saddled with a brat like that. Am I right? Now you have time to perfect your magic."  
        "Listen, I don't want to sound ungrateful or anything, I am really, but can I have my baby sister," she said smiling with puppy dog eyes and clutching her stuffed fox. "Please?"  
        Unfortunately, Xellos was immune to puppy dog eyes. "I'm sorry, Lina-chan, but what's done is done."  
        "B-but I-I really didn't mean it!"  
        Xellos smirked at her. "Oh did you now?"  
        "Pleeeaaaase give her back," she pleaded. "Where is she?"  
        "Sore wa himitsu desu," he replied, wagging his finger.  
        Having her sister abducted had been murder on her nerves and she was getting nowhere with this unreasonable man. Lina lunged at the mazoku lord ready to put him into a rather nasty headlock. Seeing he was somewhat in danger, Xellos stepped aside at the last possible moment, causing Lina to fall flat on her face.  
        As much as he'd like to let her torture him, he had more pressing business to attend to. More specifically, he had a baby to mazokuize. "Lina-chan, don't you have spells to study? Or would you prefer to get yourself a nice snack?" he asked helping the redhead to her feet. "Forget about Amelia, she'll be just fine." She was almost tempted to do just that forget all this nonsense and fix something for her shattered nerves, but she knew couldn't live herself if she didn't get her sister back.  
        His voice was about to affect her in a odd way. Its silky tones sent chills up and down her spine in a way she'd never felt before. And she found she liked it, but she couldn't let it get in the way of getting Amelia back.  
        "I-I can't," she said checking her face for any disfigurement. She had hit the floor pretty hard.  
        "Ne, Lina-chan, I've brought you a present," he said, pulling a golden ball out of the air.  
"What is it?" she asked, dollar signs popping up in her eyes. She could not take them off the shiny bauble.  
        "Oh nothing. Just the Claire Bible. If you look into it, you'd be able to learn every spell you could ever imagine," he said holding the ball out before her.  
        His smirk reappeared as her eyes widened again and her mouth dropped open on its own accord. As if she were in a trance, Lina made to grab the shiny ball. Xellos cruelly yanked it away.  
        "However, this isn't for girls who take care of screaming babies while their parents go out and have all the fun." Lina's eyes went from the ball to the still empty crib and back again. "Do you want it?" he asked, his voice husky and purring.  
        There was that feeling again. It was almost like being wrapped in the softest velvet listening to him. She looked at him and she began to notice how handsome he looked in that suit. She blushed at the thought. His eyes were half open now, black slitted pupils surrounded by deep amethyst peeked out from the lashes. She hesitantly took a step toward him.  
        "Then forget about that brat," he said using the same husky, purring tone again.  
        Suddenly a bolt of lightning flooded the dark room, followed by a crash of thunder, snapping Lina out of her trance.  
        "I won't," she said determinedly, "It's not that I appreciate the offer, but I'd rather learn on my own. And I'd like my sister back."  
        "Lina..." he warned, taking the tie off his neck. As he threw it at her, it turned into a snake and wrapped itself around her neck. "Don't defy me."  
        Clutching at her neck, she managed to get the snake off only see that it had turned into a scarf. It began to move and fearing the snake was still in it, the girl threw it to the floor. It broke into a thousand pieces and hundreds of tiny misshapen mazoku scrambled about the from as they burst from the pieces. Some of them had run between her legs and she let out a bloodcurdling shriek, kicking at them.  
        Xellos chuckled at the human girl's frantic actions. "Face it Lina-chan. You're no match for me. Especially when you can hardly manage a simple fireball spell. Forget about the baby and take my offer. There won't be another chance." She winced when he said that. He had to rub it in, didn't he.  
        "No way, namagomi! I learned that spell on my own and I can and  _will_  learn more on my own! Also I want Amelia back,  _NOW_! So tell me where the hell she is!"  
        "Yare, yare, Lina-chan. What a demanding human you are. You don't even know where to look do you?"  
        "Just tell me where she is already!" she yelled. This time she managed to get the mazoku lord into a headlock and began to give him the ultimate in noogie torture.  
        "She-she's there," he said pointing behind them.  
        Lina turned not letting go of the purple haired man. Her eyes widened and her jaw hit the ground again. Where a window had once been was a hill and a vast valley beyond it. The valley's one feature was a huge labyrinth. The maze stretched as far as she could see and she could see no visible end to it. In what she hoped was the center, a large castle loomed over the labyrinth like a lone sentinel.  
        "Do you still want to look for her?" he asked softly in her ear, his hands around her petite waist.  
        Lina jumped, only just then realizing that she had let go of him while she stared at the sight. Then she proceeded to slap him silly. Once she'd gotten her point across, which was: touch me again, you hentai and you're dead, she went back to staring at the labyrinth.  
        When he recovered from the girl's sound bashing, he repeated his question. "H-hai she said, swallowing the lump she had suddenly developed. So intimidating was the view. "She's in that castle, right?" She prayed she was right. There was no way she'd find Amelia in all that.  
        "Clever girl," he said caressing the pink stains on his cheeks. Xellos grabbed hold of her and spun her around gently so they could be face to face. She gasped in shock when she saw they were no longer in her house and now stood on the hilltop. "Turn back, Lina-chan. Go back before it's too late," he said, his voice gentle.  
        "I can't," was all she could say.  
        "What a shame," he said sounding almost as if he truly meant it.  
        The girl took one last look at the labyrinth and attempted to gauge the distance from the hill to the castle. "It doesn't look that far," she said with false bravado.  
        "It's harder than you think and there's not that much time," he said and pointed to a nearby tree. She turned and saw what looked like a ornately carved cuckoo clock. On its face were the numbers one to thirteen. "Unless you reach my castle and find Amelia within thirteen hours, your baby sister will become one of my subjects."  
        "Your subjects?" she repeated, swallowing another lump.  
        "Forever," he said with such finality. "Such a pity."  
        Lina turned to face him, and found that the mazoku lord had vanished, leaving her alone to figure out just where in the world to begin. Sighing, she said, "No use wasting time here. Get your butt moving, Inverse!" With that she started jogging down the hill toward her destiny.

 


	3. Chapter Three Stone Boy

        After what seemed like hours, Lina had finally reached the labyrinth at the bottom of the hill. The girl searched the enormous wall before her for signs of a door somewhere, while she took a breather. The hill had been pretty steep on the way down and her boots weren't really made for a whole lot of walking. Seeing no doors anywhere, she let out an exasperated sigh and said, "Great. Just great! Now how am I supposed to get in?!"  
        Walking along the wall, she saw that it was lined with all kinds of flowering bushes and plants. Tiny faeries and insects flew among the fragrant flowers. Smiling, she was tempted to pick a perfect red rose when a figure up ahead caught her eye.  
        Certain she was sure that he wasn't there before, she took a good, long look at him. He was dressed in beige trousers and a beige shirt with a hood, though the hood was down at the moment. Polished black leather shoes covered his feet. But what really caught her attention was the figure's lavender hair that shone like metal when the sun hit it and that he had blue skin. Scattered over the skin were several protrusions that she were sure were rocks.  
        The figure took out a spray can and sprayed at one of the plants. Something flew out of a flower and staggered to the ground, which he promptly stomped on. As he did that, he nonchalantly brushed a stray lock on hair back over one pointed ear.  
        Thinking that this person might know a way into the labyrinth, she strode up to him. As she approached him, she could hear he was humming lightly to himself. (He's humming 'More Than Words' BTW ^_^) "Hey you!" she said thoroughly startling the chimera.  
        "Um... sorry. I was just leaving," said in a slightly nasal voice. He hadn't even bothered to look to see who it was.  
        "Excuse me," Lina said again. This time causing the chimera to turn around. He was a few inches taller than her she noticed at that made her uneasy since she'd have to look up at him to talk to him.  
        "Well, well, well," he said regarding the petite red haired girl before him.  
        "I, um, have to get into the labyrinth. Do you know how I can get in?" she asked.  
        He was about to say something, but he quickly went up to a rosebush and took out the spray can again. A faerie was hovering over the flowers. He sprayed it with a couple bursts and the faerie began to fall. Lina quickly caught it.  
        "How  _could_  you?!" she yelled. She gingerly held the tiny creature in the palm of her hand. "Kawaiso na." The chimera just ignored her and put the can away again. Lina was about to give him a piece of her mind when she felt a sharp pain on her finger and let out a yelp. "ITAIIIIIIIII!!! It bit me!" she whined.  
        "Of course it did. What would you expect faeries to do?" the chimera asked and quickly sprayed yet another of the creatures.  
        "I thought faeries granted wishes when you helped them," she said.  
        "Hmph. Goes to show how smart you are. Here." He handed her a few purplish leaves and she looked him puzzled. "Rub those on the bite," he explained.  
        Lina nodded at him gratefully and did just that. However instead of making the pain go away, it made it hurt ten fold. "What's the big idea! Now it hurts more! Much more!" she shrieked.  
        "Of course it would. Everyone knows you don't use those for faery bites," said the chimera, smirking. "Not too bright are you, kid?"  
        Lina's eyes teared. "B-but I though you were giving them to make it better. How could you do that to a kawaii girl like me?"  
        He looked at her and laughed. "Kawaii?! Heh! That's a good one! Are you sure you're a girl? I mean where's you're chest? I sure don't see one."  
        She was furious now and despite the enormous pain in her finger, she began to chant. "Fireball!!" To her surprise the ball of flame hit its mark, but all it did was singe the chimera's shirt off. (Whoo-hoo!! This is for all you Zel fans out there! ^_-) "You're despicable!" she spat.  
        "No I'm not. My name is Zelgadis. You're the one who's not being nice here. Who are you anyway?"  
        "Lina Inverse," she said proudly, though she doubted her name would do her much good in this weirded out place.  
        "Thought as much," he said and went back to spraying faeries.  
        The girl sulked, sucking on her still aching finger. "Ouchie!" Who was this guy? Was he put here by Xellos to prevent her from even entering the labyrinth. He seemed to know about, at least what she looked like. But, he certainly didn't look like a spy. He was more like a crabby old stick in the mud than someone the Mazoku King would use as a spy. She bravely walked up to him and said, "Look you..."  
        He sighed. "Are you still here? Fine, here." He handed her some different leaves, a somewhat apologetic look on his face. She cautiously tried them on the bite, and found that he pain had almost faded to nothing.  
        She smiled at him, thanking him. He nervously smiled back not knowing what to do since no one really smiled at him before. Suddenly self-conscious, the chimera blushed, turning his skin a faint purple color.  
        "Look, I'm sorry 'bout what I said before," Lina said. She hoped he did know the way in and would be willing to tell her. "I really have to get in there and I was wondering if you knew a way in."  
        "Maybe," he said, returning to his work.  
        "So where is it?"  
        "Where's what?" He didn't even bother to look up.  
        "The door!" she yelled, "Are you stupid or something?!"  
        "What door?"  
        "The door into that damned labyrinth, you great big idiot!" He was really wearing on her patience.  
        "The door into the labyrinth," he repeated, laughing again. "Now why would you want to know that?"  
        Lina huffed, deciding he was a waste of energy and magic. "It's none of your freaking business. Why did I even bother asking a jerk like you?! It's no good asking you anything."  
        "Not if you ask the right questions," he said. Was it her or was this 'Zelgadis' beginning to sound like Xellos? "You sure are no adventurer, greenhorn."  
        "Well what are the 'right' questions?" she asked.  
        "Depends on what you want to know." Yep, he was definitely sounding like the royal pain in the butt.  
        "Oh I know what I want all right. Now, how do I get into the labyrinth?!"  
        Zelgadis put away his spray can and said, "Now  _that's_  more like it. You can get in there. Now leave me alone," he said pointing to the wall behind him. Lina's jaw dropped. As if by magic, a humungous gate appeared as soon as she looked. "You've got to ask the right questions if you want to get anywhere around here."  
        Lina gingerly pushed on the gate and it opened, protesting loudly as it swung on its rusty hinges. Taking a deep breath, she took her very first step into the unknown. 'Amelia,' she thought trying to muster as much courage as she could.  
        Looking around, she saw another huge wall, just like the first, in front of her. The two walls made a narrow hallway and their sheer size made her terribly uneasy. Piles of bones and twigs and branches littered the ground at various spots. Lichen and moss lined the walls, indicating that this part of the labyrinth most definitely hadn't been kept up in years, though the walls seemed to be very strong. Looking to her left and right, the hallway seemed to go on forever in both directions with no visible signs of turns.  
        "Nice place isn't it?" Zelgadis said startling her. She shivered, but not from cold. He had turned unusually somber and for some reason it began to unnerve her. "You're really going in there, aren't you?" he asked, genuinely concerned.  
        "I have to," she said remembering her sister again.  
        In a tone that implied 'It's your funeral', the chimera said, "Now which way would you go? Left or right?"  
        She looked around carefully and said, "Well, they look the same to me."  
        "You won't go far with that attitude."  
        "Yeah?! Why don't you pick then since you seem to know so much," she said beginning to lose her temper again.  
        "Me?" He humphed. "I wouldn't go either way." He was dead certain she wouldn't pick up on the subtle clue he'd just given her.  
        "Some guide you are!"  
        "Who said I was a guide?! I'm just the gardener," He replied. "You know what your problem is? You take too much for granted."  
        Lina's temper flared, but she was trying to think of which way to go so she ignored the chimera. Since there seemed to be no logic to this place, there was no real logical way to go. Closing her eyes she began to point in each direction as she said, "Eenie, meenie, minie, mo."  
        "Really scientific method," he said dripping with sarcasm. "Take this labyrinth for instance, nothing's ever what it seems so you can't take anything for granted. Anyway even if you do reach the castle, you'll never get out again."  
        "That's your opinion," she snapped before going back to her deciding.  
        "Well it's a whole lot better than yours," he said stomping off on his merry way.  
        "Thanks for nothing, Stone Boy!"  
        "It's  _ZELGADIS_!!" he yelled back before shutting the gate.  
        Lina shook her head and sighed. Her last 'eenie, meenie' had landed on the right so she decided to go in that direction. As she began to walk she muttered under breath. "The sooner I get outta here, the better. Stupid Stone Boy." She suddenly blushed as she realized that he had been topless the whole time she was arguing with him. "Shame he was a cutie though. His chest wasn't that bad either."

 


	4. Chapter Four Which Way Out?

        Lina's feet began to hurt and her legs were protesting at being made to keep marching down the seemingly endless hallway of the labyrinth. Deciding to stop for a bit, the redhead stood panting for breath as she gazed off into the distance. The scenery hadn't changed much only the placement of debris, lichen, and bones varied every few hundred yards or so.  
        "This isn't a labyrinth!" she shouted, her voice echoing off the walls. She cast a fireball at a pile of bones, incinerating them. "A labyrinth's got turns and openings. This is just one long hallway." Now that she had given herself a chance to rest and vent her anger, Lina began to remember what the chimera had said to her. "Maybe I'm taking this stupid place for granted. Maybe there is a turn or something up ahead that I'm not seeing."  
        With that, the little red haired sorceress took off in another run, cursing Xellos along the way for not giving her a way to tell how much time had passed. She ran and ran, making the endless scenery of walls go much faster, but they still refused to reveal any secret twists or turns. She ran until she tripped over a fallen branch, landing in a heap.  
        A patch of lichen murmured to itself, its eyes twitching as if they were holding conversations with the other eyes. Lina got up and brushed herself off. "Great, just great," she muttered. Letting out a frustrated growl, she punched one of the walls, instantly regretting it. Since she found out that she was able to cast magic while in the labyrinth, she quickly cast a healing spell on her bleeding fist.  
        As if someone had knocked on its door, a two inch tall girl with long blonde hair and a gold tail with a pink bow came out between the stones. "Hello," she said in a friendly voice.  
Lina stared in shock at the tiny figure, but soon recovered. Thinking of all the weirdness that had happened to her so far, she shrugged her shoulders and passed the girl off as yet another bit of the craziness in this strange, new world.  
        "Um, excuse me, but do you know how to get through this labyrinth?" she asked in a soft voice, hoping that this new person would know something.  
        "Who me? No, I'm just a ryuuzoku."  
        Lina just nodded and smiled. 'I should have known,' she said to herself. 'Anyway that would explain the tail, but not why she's a two inch dragon.'  
        "Why don't you come inside and have a nice cup of tea. You look like you could use it," the dragon said in a kind and motherly tone.  
        "Thanks, but I've really got to get through the labyrinth. I would have beaten that baka Xellos by now, but there's no turns or openings." The redhead wiped away the tears that threatened to fall. "It just goes on and on."  
        The tiny dragon clucked her tongue. "You silly thing!" she giggled. "Of course there's openings! You're just not looking right." Lina was about to protest at that, but the dragon stopped her. "There's one right across from here. In fact it's right behind you."  
        The girl turned only to see nothing but wall. "Are you nuts?! There's nothing here!"  
        "You really should come have some tea," the dragon said, desperately trying to calm the girl down. "All you have to do is walk a bit that way. You can't miss it," she said pointing the way with her tail.  
        "Doko? (Where?)" Lina asked staring at the wall.  
        "Sure you won't have some tea, dear?" Unfortunately, this was the only time free food had no effect on the redhead.  
        "There can't possibly be an opening here. It's just a wall!"  
        The dragon humphed, annoyed at Lina's stubbornness. "Don't be so dense! It's that namagomi's fault this place is like this! Listen just because you see a wall doesn't mean it really is a wall. Just go ahead and walk through it. You'll see what I mean. Besides it's impossible to take anything for granted around here."  
        Zelgadis' words came back to her. 'Me? I wouldn't go either way.' The girl slapped her forehead feeling completely stupid. "D'oh!" she said, "I should've known that guy meant to go straight ahead. I was too damn upset to realize!" Lina then took a deep breath and closed her eyes, walking up to the wall. Expecting to hit it, she was surprised to find herself standing in the middle of a new passageway.  
        She let out a whoop of joy. The hall was exactly the same as the other, stretching onward forever, but at least it wasn't the one she was in before. She turned back to the dragon and smiled happily. "Arigatou, that helped a heck of a lot." Lina then started on her merry way.  
        Noticing the direction she was headed, the dragon paled and the lichen near her 'house' began to quiver in fear. "Hey! Don't go that way!" called the dragon.  
        Stopping in her tracks, the red haired sorceress returned to where she'd found the opening and asked, "What was that?"  
        "I said not to go that way," the dragon replied.  
        "Oh, thanks," Lina quickly changed her direction and set off hoping she'd reach Xellos' castle on time.  
        Heaving a sigh of relief, the dragon smiled at the lichen. "That was really close. Had she gone that way, she would've wound up at that namagomi's castle." The lichen nodded its eyes in agreement. She then returned to her home and her tea.

        Meanwhile in Xellos' throne room, the Mazoku King sat on a large, carved throne decorated with various kinds of animal skins and fur, baby Amelia on his lap who was bawling up a storm. She really hated not being paid attention to. Smiling, the king conjured a crystal and made it hover around the baby's head. Amelia stopped her crying, fascinated by the play of light reflected off the crystal above her head. She reached for it, but the crystal always slipped away as she was about to grab hold.  
        "You're an amusing little thing, I'll give you that," he said.  
        The throne had belonged to his mother, Xelas, the Mazoku Queen, and he kept it as it was in memory of her. Such sentimentality was unheard of in mazoku. But Xellos wasn't entirely mazoku, or so the rumors said. In fact the entire throne room had remained the same since the queen had disappeared, leaving poor Xellos to take care of the labyrinth on his own. Various 'trophies' hung along the walls and a few animal skin rugs lay scattered on the black marble floor here and there.  
        There were no mazoku present, since the king preferred to keep the place as tidy as possible. Most of the lesser mazoku had a nasty habit of trashing places. And mazoku blood was also virtually impossible to get out of fur and clothing.  
        Xellos gently patted Amelia's head when he saw the baby had now caught the crystal and was sucking on it. He had desperately needed something to keep his mind off the boredom of immortality, that was why he was stealing babies in the first place. Each time he was called upon to take a child, the Mazoku King would gladly accept the offer in hopes of finding a suitable heir.  
        But he had no such luck. Each and every one of the babies had turned out to be dull-witted drones who laughed at their own stupidity, while Xellos' unique brand of humor sailed above them. No wonder Xelas had stopped baby snatching when she found him. But his own impatience at raising a baby was also a major reason as to why his subjects were so stupid.  
        When the calls ceased, the king became more and more bored and twice as worried. For what he feared most was that he'd wind up like his aunt, the Sea Queen who was completely off her immortal rocker, which was mildly putting it. Xellos silently prayed that this baby would grow up with at least some more intelligence than some of the last ones.  
        "I certainly hope you're as smart as you look, Ame-chan," he said. The baby looked at him questioningly before going back to sucking on the crystal.  
        Yawning, the king looked at the clock that hung on the farthest hall. Only three and half hours had passed since he'd given Lina his little challenge. Smiling evilly, he said to the happily gurgling baby, "Nine and a half hours to go and you'll be all mine, little princess."  
        Getting up he gently placed the baby on a rug beside the throne and removed the crystal ball from the baby's mouth. Amelia's eyes teared and her lip quivered at having her toy stolen, but was soon distracted by the soft fur she was sitting on. Once he saw the baby was not going to cry again, he luxuriously stretched out his stiffened muscles.  
        "Yare, yare, 'kasan how did you do it?" he murmured to himself. Sitting on that hard throne all day was literally a pain in the butt. "Well, back to work."  
        He picked up Amelia and got back on his throne. With a small wave of a gloved hand, a small table appeared beside him. On it stood a decanter, a goblet, and a baby bottle full of milk. Pouring himself a bit of the wine, he then took the bottle and gave it to Amelia who happily took it, and began to drink. Taking a sip himself, Xellos began to decide on how he should pass the remaining nine and a half hours.

        As she walked along, Lina would stop at every intersection to make an arrow to show where she had been with a tube of lipstick she'd forgotten in one of her pockets. But what she didn't know was that as soon as she was out of sight, a tiny mazoku would come along and turn the stone with the arrow mark over, leaving a nice clean passageway.  
        After she made a couple dozen or so marks, Lina came to another dead end. Turning back to where she'd started from, she looked down to see there was no mark. Rubbing her eyes, she looked again and the arrow still refused to appear.  
        Stomping her feet, she threw the lipstick away. Far away. "It's not fair! Xellos, you bastard!! Stop erasing my marks!"  
        "Whatcha expect?! Of course it's not fair!" said a voice behind her.  
        Lina screamed, then whipped herself around, dropping her jaw. What had been a dead end was now a narrow courtyard with two doors at the end. In front of each door, was a playing card figure. The kind that had two heads, one right side up and the other upside down underneath.  
        The figures appeared to be a Jack and Queen. The Jack had long wavy brown hair that covered one eye and an old, battered black hat while the Queen had curly aqua colored hair and a black spiky tiara.  
        Once she took all this in, Lina began to pick up her jaw off the ground. "You're absolutely right, darling," said the upside down queen, who Lina decided to name Marchina, "and that's only half of it." She let out a maniacal laugh that echoed off the walls and her companions quickly covered their ears.  
        "That was a dead end a moment ago," Lina said as calmly as she could.  
        "Nuh-uh," said the upside down Jack she decided to name, Zack, "that's the dead end behind ya."  
        Spinning around, the red haired girl did indeed see a wall blocking the way she came. She was now in an enclosed area, the two doors being her only way out.  
        "Damn him!" Lina spat. "What the hell am I supposed to do if he keeps changing things?!"  
        "Well you cold try one of these doors, " said Marchina.  
        Zack piped up, "One of 'em leads to the castle and the other one leads too..." He paused for a dramatic effect which only angered the girl even more. "certain death." All the guards made ominous sounds.  
        "Well which one is it?" Lina asked.  
        Marchina waggled her upside down finger. "Uh, uh, uh. We can't tell you, dearie."  
        "Oh yeah? Why not?" the petite girl asked, threateningly.  
        "Because we haven't a clue," replied Zack. "But THEY do." He pointed to his right side up pals.  
        "Well I'll ask them."  
        But before she could put her question to the other guards she called Zangulus and Martina, the aqua haired Queen spoke up. "You can't ask  _us_. You can only ask  _one_  of us. It's the rules," she explained, smiling.  
        "I think I should warn you," said Zangulus, "One of us always lies and one of us always tells the truth."  
        "That's a rule too," Marchina piped up, giggling.  
        Zangulus ignored the upside down Queen and pointed to Martina. " _She's_  the liar."  
        "Zangy-poo! How could you say such a thing about your one and only?! It's you who's always telling lies!" she huffed.  
        "Martina, love, I do not tell you lies and you know it."  
        "I know, muffin, but you know we've got to play by the rules."  
        "You get it now, boy?" said Zack. "It's useless asking them anything since you'd never know what's true or not."  
        Lina bristled. Why is it that everyone had to mistake her for a boy?! Since she was in a hurry, the redhead ignored Zack's comment and decided to solve this little puzzle her own way by fireballing the guards and opening the nearest door.  
        "That felt good," Lina said. She proudly strode through the door, exulting in the knowledge that the more spells she cast, the stronger she felt. "This is a piece of --"  
        She screamed as her foot connected with air and she found herself falling downward, the light of day rapidly fading away.

 


	5. Chapter 5

       Lina screamed as she fell through a rather long, not to mention dark, shaft. After a couple minutes of screaming, she realized that if anyone heard her at all, they would have come to help her by now. So she shut up, until something cold and slimy brushed against her. 'Please no slugs,' she begged. Another of the cold slimy things brushed against her again.  
        The red headed girl began to scream again as even more of the 'things' brushed against her, unfortunately, she didn't realize they were what kept her from falling faster as gravity set in. "Help! Someone help!" she cried as something grabbed a hold of her arm, holding it above her head. Thoughts of some undead creature buried in there flashed through her mind. 'I'm gonna wind up as some zombie's dinner, just great!'  
        "What do you mean help?" said a voice nearby. Looking frantically around Lina saw that the shaft was lined with thousands upon thousands of green, glowing hands. She screamed again as more grabbed onto her and tried their best to support the frightened girl.  
        "We're helping hands," said another cheerful voice. A group of hands had formed themselves into a human like face complete with eyebrows.  
        "Y-you're hurting me," the girl stammered.  
        "Would you like us to let go?" said a rather mazoku looking face.  
        "No!" she yelled as the hands began to loosen their grip.  
        "Well, which way ojousan?" said a kindly face with a 'beard' and 'mustache'.  
        "Which way?" she asked confused.  
        "Up or down?" said yet another face.  
        "Come on we haven't got all day!" said the first voice, impatiently.  
        "It's a big decision for her," said the bearded face.  
        Lina thunked herself on the head. "Baka!" she yelled when she remembered her magic worked in this freaked out world. "I appreciate the help, um, guys," she began, "but I can handle it from here."  
        "You sure?" asked the second voice.  
        "Yeah." The girl then began chanting a spell. The hands recognized the spell and released their hold on her. "Levitation!"  
        Lina was now suspended in midair without the aid of the Helping Hands. "So which way are you going to go?" asked the cheery face.  
        "Well since I was stupid enough to let myself fall this far, I might as well go down," she replied and began to float down towards she hoped wasn't a bottomless pit.  
        "She chose down!" said the cheery face.  
        Soon the shot was echoed off dozens of other voices as the redhead continued to descend. "Was that wrong?" she called back.  
        "Too late now," said the mazoku like face, smiling.  
        After a few more minutes of floating down, Lina did reach the bottom of the hole. Landing gracefully on her feet, she glanced back up and realized that she yet made another bad choice. "Damn! Now I've got to go all the way back up there!" she complained. "Well might as well take a break and see if there's another way outta here."  
        She looked around the dark pit but soon gave up since the faint light above made it impossible to see beyond a few inches. Feeling around, she came to realize that she was in some kind of pit or cave with absolutely no openings or doors anywhere. Lina sat down and waited for her to gain enough strength to cast another levitation spell.

 

 

        Meanwhile, Xellos was sitting on his throne with baby Amelia still on his lap. The infant was happily drooling over a crystal the mazoku king had conjured for her while he was busy watching his latest amusement make her way down the shaft of Helping Hands. "Yare, yare Ame-chan. It looks like your onee-chan won't be visiting at us at all today," he said putting the crystal away. The baby ignored him, too engrossed in the play of light bouncing off the walls the crystal caused. "Still I didn't expect her to make it so far. Too bad you'll have to start over, Lina-chan," he said smiling as he summoned one of his favorite minions.  
        "You sent for me, your majesty?" said a figure in beige clothing and hood.  
        "Yes, Zel-chan. I have a favor to ask of you," the mazoku king said.  
        "It's that girl isn't it?"  
        "Bingo! I'd like you to go and lead her back to the beginning for me."  
        "It'll be hard. She's stubborn."  
        "I know, Zel-chan. Just do it." The king opened his eyes and the chimera gulped. He really hated it when Xellos did that. Those eyes of his gave him the creeps even if he had similar eyes himself. He sighed.  
        "As you wish," he said bowing and left.  
        Xellos laughed maniacally at the joke he was about to play on the unsuspecting girl. "I just loooove a good trick!"

 

 

        After what seemed like an eternity, Lina stood up and dusted herself off. "Well I've waited long enough. Time to get moving." She began chanting the levitation spell that would take her out of where she was. In the middle of her chanting, a faint scratching sound made her lose concentration and she looked toward the sound. "Who's there!? Who's in here with me?"  
        "It's me," said a slightly nasal voice. There was a popping sound and a ball of light flew to the ceiling, illuminating the hooded figure.  
        "Zelgadis! Boy am I glad to see you!" she said showing an enormous amount of restraint from hugging the chimera.  
        The chimera blushed, thankful the hood hid most of his face so no one could see. "It's nice to see you too," he replied coolly.  
        "How'd you get here anyway?" Lina asked.  
        "I knew you'd get in trouble so I decided to lend a hand," he said shrugging.  
        'Did he have to say hand,' she thought shivering as she remembered the Helping Hands. "You're going to help me solve the labyrinth then?"  
        He humphed. "Do you even know where you are?"  
        "No, and I really don't give a damn since I was on the way out," she said tossing her head.  
        "Well for your information, you're in an oubliette. The labyrinth's full of them." "Really?" She was really put off by the chimera's cold attitude. "How about that," she said mockingly.  
        "Don't act so smart," he warned. "I bet you don't even know what an oubliette is."  
        "I do too!" she said stamping her foot for emphasis. "It's where you put people to forget about them. I'm not gonna let that jerk of a mazoku king think he can forget Lina Inverse!" The red haired girl then laughed maniacally, causing the chimera to shiver.  
        'I don't know who's worse, Xellos or this girl,' he thought as Lina recovered her composure. He turned to the wall and began to search along it. "This is no place for a little girl like you," he began. Lina bristled at being called little, but kept her cool. She made herself promise that she'd never lose her temper in this place again. That was what led her to be in the oubliette in the first place. "You'd only end up in another oubliette sooner or later. Like him."  
        The chimera gestured toward a skeleton that was now visible. Lina eeped finally realizing how close she had come to a gruesome death hadn't she remembered to cast a levitation spell. "What you should do is get out of here."  
        "Sorry, Stone Boy. No can do. I've gotta find my baby sister."  
        The chimera sighed. "It's best you just forget her. Once the king gets hold of something he wants he doesn't let go. Come on, I know a way out of here."  
        "Nuh-uh no way! I've come too far to give up now!" she yelled.  
        "You did great. I have to admit it, you sure surprised me by making it this far," he said turning back to her. "But it gets a lot worse from here on in and you've still got a long way to go."  
        Lina became suspicious at the chimera's sudden kindness toward her and eyed him warily. "Why the sudden concern? Before you wouldn't even give me the time of day had I asked."  
        "I just am," he said hurt. "You seem a nice girl and well this is a rather dark oubliette. Why shouldn't I be worried."  
        Lina blushed. He said she was nice, none of the boys back home had ever said that before. "Um... look, I'm sorry for calling you Stone Boy before." Her gaze went toward the pouch that hung from his belt. "Listen, you like money don't you?"  
        "Who doesn't. Why?" he asked warily.  
        "Well I thought that if you'd help me through the labyrinth, I'd give, um, this." she said holding up a rhinestone bracelet she'd been wearing earlier. "What do you say?" The chimera scrutinized the bracelet carefully. ones. "You like?" she asked grateful she'd been wearing gloves or he would have seen the moonstone ring her mother had given her before dying.  
        "It's okay," he replied. "How about you give me the bracelet and I'll take you out of the labyrinth?"  
        "Forget it! You were going to do that anyway."  
        "Yeah, well it would've been a nice thing for you to do for someone who helped you," he said curtly.  
        "Nuh-uh, Stone Boy. You want it, you gotta show me the way IN not out," she said taking the bracelet as the chimera made a grab for it.  
        He humphed again. "And what pray tell makes you think  ** _I_** know the way through?"  
        "Well you're here aren't you and the only way in here as far as I know is that hole up there."  
        "Touche," he said nonplused. He hadn't figured she'd be actually able to use her brain. "But it's still a long way off from here and it's dangerous. So why don't you give up. You proved you're a smart girl and brave too. I'll give you that much," he said in one last attempt to get her to surrender.  
        Did he really think she'd give in so easily? Well Lina was going to show Mr. Know-it-all just how stubborn an Inverse could be. "I'll make another deal with you. If you won't show me all the way through, then how about if you just take me as far as you can and I'll give you the bracelet? That sound fair enough to you?" She gave him a good dose of puppy dog eyes for good measure.  
        "Ch! Of all the harebrained baka I had to wind up with a stubborn one as well," he said disgusted.  
        "It's a fair deal," she said dangling the bracelet before him. "No tricks. Just one bracelet for your help. Deal?"  
        "What is that anyway?" he asked never taking his eyes off her bracelet.  
        "Rhinestone."  
        He took the bracelet from her and put it on his wrist. "I'll help you as far as I can, then you'll go the rest by yourself, right?"  
        "Right," she replied.  
        "Hmph, rhinestone," he said as he fingered the bracelet.  
        "Well, come on! I haven't got all day unlike some people here," she said impatient to get out of the oubliette and back on the track of finding Amelia.  
        "Yeah, yeah, hold your horses," he said as he felt along the wall again and triggered a hidden passage. The girl's jaw hit the floor. "Didn't expect to see that there did you?" Zelgadis said smugly. "Serves you right for taking this place for granted." With that the chimera entered the passage with a rather quiet Lina in tow.

        The two walked for a few hundred feet in silence until the passage open up to another one that was wide enough for five or more people, then Lina nearly jumped out of her skin when a loud voice echoed off the walls of the passage. "DON'T GO ON!"  
        "Eeeeeeeyaaaaa!!! What the heck was that?!" She turned around, still shaking from the shock. At first she only saw Zelgadis, then she realized that the wall they just passed had a face carved into it. Along the other wall and further down the first face were other faces, each one similar yet different. The chimera just sighed, shrugged and went on not paying attention at all to the various things the faces were saying.  
        "You are going the wrong way!"  
        "Run now before it's too late!"  
        "Do not go any further!"  
        "Danger Will Robinson! Danger!"  
        "One more step could be your doom!"  
        Lina had to stick her fingers in her ears for the echoing voices seemed to be echoing in her head as well as the passage. Seeing that the girl was no longer with him, Zelgadis looked back to see her standing a few feet behind, trying her best to drown out the voices. "I wouldn't worry about them, they're just Phony Warnings. When you see them it just means you're on the right track," he said calmly.  
        "OH NO YOU'RE NOT!" piped up one of the Phony Warnings.  
        "Urusai! (shut up!)" both yelled back.  
        "Geez, I'm only doin' me job," it whined.  
        "You don't have to do it for us," Zelgadis said as he dragged Lina away before it could say anything else.  
        "What a bunch of grumps," it muttered when they were out of sight.  
        After a few more feet of twists and turns, the couple came to the last of the Phony Warnings. Thinking they could pass without any fuss, the two jumped when the face began to speak. "Desist! For -"  
        "Don't bother. You know we'll just ignore you," the chimera said.  
        " _Please_ ," it begged, "I haven't said it for soooo long."  
        Zelgadis sighed, then nodded. "Oh all right, just don't expect anything from us." "Of course not! Thanks." The face then cleared its throat and resumed its duty. "Desist! For to go on will be the end for you!"  
        While the face was droning on, a small crystal ball came rolling up to them from behind. Zelgadis began to get nervous and shifted in his shoes slightly. Sensing the chimera's discomfort, Lina nudged her companion. "Let's get going."  
        He nodded and continued down the passage. 'I've got a really bad feeling about this.' The crystal followed them as they turned a corner and then went bouncing off the wall to land in the cup of what appeared to be an old blind beggar who just happened to be sitting against the wall in front of them.  
        Lina heard the chimera gulp and turned to look at him. He stood perfectly still, but his eyes were filled with fear and were glued to the cup where the crystal hand landed. The beggar looked up, a cheery smile on his face. "'Allo," he said "What have we here?"  
        "N-nothing," Zelgadis stammered.  
        "Nothing," the beggar repeated, " _NOTHING_?!" He through the rags off his body to reveal Xellos standing before them, eyes flashing with anger at the chimera.  
        "Your majesty," Zelgadis said only just now remembering one should bow before royalty, no matter how much you couldn't stand them. "fancy... fancy meeting you here," he managed.  
        "Konnichi wa Zedaglis," he said amiably.  
        "Zegladis," Lina corrected.  
        "My name is  _ZELGADIS_!" he said angrily, then quickly added an apology to the mazoku king.  
        "Zel-chan," began Xellos in a sweet tone dripping with venom. "you aren't helping Ms. Inverse are you?"  
        "Helping? W-what makes you think I'm helping a brat like her?" he said nervously.  
        "Hey!" Lina said, insulted.  
        "Weeelll, from my point of view it looks like you're leading her IN instead of out of the labyrinth."  
        "Um... yeah I know that, your majesty," Zelgadis said, "but I'm following your orders."  
        "Nani yo?!" Lina piped up.  
        "I, um, told her that I was going to help a bit, but I was actually..." He nervously laughed. "Good thinking, ne?"  
        "Indeed," said the mazoku king lowering his eyes to the chimera's wrist. "I see you've finally decided to take my advice to accessorize. Wherever did you get that little trinket?" he asked.  
        Zelgadis stared at the bracelet as if he didn't know what it was. "Hey, where this come from? I don't remember seeing this before."  
        "Zel-chan," Xellos said in an even tone, his usual cheerful face belying the danger underneath, "If I ever thought you were disobeying me, I'd have to shove you bum first into a pack of Rabid Fangirls."  
        The chimera went pale and began to shake, his knees barely able to hold him up. "Gods no! Not that! Not the Fangirls!"  
        "Oh  _YES_ , Zel-chan," he said licking his lips at the taste of the chimera's terror. He opened his eyes and turned to the redhead. "And you, Lina-chan... are you enjoying your stay here?"  
        She swallowed hard before mustering her courage. "Yeah it's a cinch. A real piece of cake!" The mazoku king rose an eyebrow and Zelgadis groaned.  
        "Really? Then how about making it more of a challenge for someone like you, dear?" Xellos gestured and the girl looked to her right to see a thirteen hour clock hanging on the wall. The hands began to move quicker and her face crumbled.  
        "That's not fair!" she whined.  
        "I never said it'd be fair, Lina-chan," Xellos answered in his defense. He then reached into the cup and pulled out the crystal ball. "You say it's a piece of cake? Then how would you like to try another slice?" With that the mazoku king through the ball into the corridor they'd just exited and vanished laughing maniacally.  
        A whirring and clanking sound echoed off the stone walls and gradually got louder as it traveled down the passage. Zelgadis had recovered from his previous terror but remained pale. Lina was about to ask him what was going on, but then saw what was coming towards them.  
        A wall of spinning knives and cleavers of all shapes and sizes filled the entire passage behind them and was showing no sign of stopping. "Damn!" Zelgadis yelled. "It's the cleaners!"  
        "The what?!" Lina said, still staring at the deadly wall.  
        "Shut up and run!"  
        That's exactly what they did. They ran the only way available to them, the passage they had turned into before meeting up with the mazoku king. Both frantically looked for a way to escape the tunnels, running at top speed through what seemed an eternity of endless twists and turns. Finally they came to a dead end, the only other way out was a large rusty door.

 


	6. Chapter Six Sage Advice

        Lina and Zelgadis ran as fast as they could the crazy contraption with the whirring knives and cleavers close behind. Catching sight of a very rusty door on her right, the red haired girl ran up to it and slammed into it, making a loud gonging sound. The chimera caring only for his own hide, not to mention forgetting he was made of stone and thus impervious to metal objects like those, ran past her.  
        "Zelgadis get your lying snake in the grass butt back here!" yelled the girl as she desperately banged her fists on the door.  
        "Lina, I can explain," he said joining her by the rusted door.  
        "Shut up and  _PUSH_!" she ordered, whacking him in the head and once again hurting her hand on his thick skull.  
        The two pushed and pushed, but the door refused to open. "Did it ever occur to you that it might open from the other side?" asked the chimera, tired of pushing and no results.  
        "Now he tells me," she muttered. "Ok that's it! I've had enough of this wacked out place!" She began to chant another one of her spells.  
        "Whatever you're doing, you'd better hurry, the cleaners are closing in!" warned Zelgadis as a very loud whirring sound approached.  
        "Burst Brando!" Lina screamed and the spell knocked the door off its hinges to clang nosily in protest at being slammed into a wall.  
        Dashing inside, the two missed being skewered and chopped to itty bitty bits by mere inches as the cleaners as the whirring wall of sharp metal objects passed harmlessly by. Lina immediately plopped on her back and began to wheeze and pant for breath. Zelgadis however wasn't that winded and mentally cursed himself for being so stupid to forget that the cleaners couldn't hurt him. He smiled smugly, as he decided not to tell her that. After all it was the girl's fault the cleaners were summoned in the first place.  
        "Xellos-sama must really like you. He's pulling out the heavy artillery, the cleaners, the Rabid Fangirls..." his voice trailed off as he winced at the thought of being fed to the pack of hormonal teenage girls.  
        "Yeah, he's a real barrel of laughs," she said totally annoyed at the mazoku king, but not too loud in case he was listening.  
        Of course Zelgadis was too busy looking around the room they were in to pay attention to the petite redhead. Spying an awfully long ladder, he went up to it and placed one foot on the first rung then the other, testing it. Seeing that it would support his weight, he said. "This'll do." He looked over to the girl who was still lying on the dust covered floor. "Unless you want to be a permanent resident, you'd better follow me. Come on."  
        Lina got up and dusted herself off the best she could then glared at the chimera. "No way pal! There's no way I'm gonna listen to a lying jerk like you. Especially since you're taking me back to the beginning."  
        Her harsh words stung him like a swarm of angry hornets. But he'd be damned if he was going to let her see that. "I only told him that to get him off my back."  
        "Yeah right, and that's supposed to make me trust you again?" she spat in mistrust.  
        "Let me put it in a way a kid like you can understand." The girl began to fume. "What choice do you have?"  
        He was right. Her options were pretty much nil. In fact they were. Zelgadis was the only person in the labyrinth she'd met so far that actually seemed to know his way around AND offered to help. Well she had bribed him to, but at least he hadn't killed her and run off. Yet. Gods she  _HATED_  it when someone else was right.  
        "All right you win, Zel," she said acquiescing. "For now," she added under her breath. "Stupid Stone Boy."  
        "Now that we got that settled, can we please go now?" he said irritated and anxious to get as far away from Lina as possible. He then began to climb the ladder. The girl looked up and got a short case of vertigo trying to see where it went. Figuring that it would do no good to just stare, she too began to climb.  
        After what seemed to be a never-ending torment, the two decided to take a short breather. The redhead hung for dear life to the ladder after she took a look back down to gauge how far they've come. Her hands clutched to the sides, as another wave of vertigo hit her.  
        "The main thing here is not to look down," the chimera said without looking down.  
        "Don't look down he says," she muttered.  
        "Nani?"  
        "Nothing," she said, starting to shake the ladder.  
        "I told you not to look down," he said in a tone that screamed 'I told you so'.  
        "Oops, sorry about that!" she called up, rubbing the back of her head.  
        "Whatever, let's get going," was the reply. Zelgadis sighed and continued to climb. 'Why me, L-sama?' he said to himself.  
        "You know, Zel, that was a good idea tricking Xellos like that," Lina began thinking that conversation would make the rest of the climb go faster.  
        "Listen, you really have to understand my position here. I may look it, but I'm not as powerful as Xellos. That's why I do as he says."  
        "In other words, you're scared of him," she said reading between the lines.  
        "Thank you so very much for making it obvious," came the sarcastic reply.  
        "You're welcome. Why don't you just find some way to beat him?"  
        "Why do you think I'm doing working for him? Anyway you'd never know what it's like to be fed rear first to a pack of Rabid Fangirls. I've seen the strongest bishounen come out with their minds turned completely to mush."  
        "It's  _THAT_  bad?" she asked.  
        "That's only if you're lucky enough to escape. There are still other bishounen who've never been seen again. I'm telling you the Fangirls are a fate worse than death." Lina couldn't help swallowing hard at what she was hearing. But she was also glad since it seemed that Fangirls only attacked bishounen. Or did they? She had learned the hard way that nothing was what it seemed in the twisted world she'd been thrown into.  
        "I can see light," came Zelgadis' voice as he stopped a few feet above her. He appeared to be feeling the ceiling above him and she heard a faint click. Suddenly a shaft of light burst through an opening, blinding her. When she recovered, she let out an whoop of joy when she looked up and saw the blue sky.

        After climbing out of an ornate stone urn and out of the cold, damp, stinky tunnels, Lina took huge gulps of fresh air. "Yahoo!! No more tunnels!" she yelled at the tope of her lungs. They were standing in a garden of some sort. Actually it was the kind rich folks have out back at their country mansions. You know, the kind where there are neat little paths and carefully manicured flower beds and perfectly trimmed hedges.  
        "You're on your own, now kid," Zelgadis said turning to leave.  
        "Nani?"  
        "You heard me. This is as far as I go. There's no way I'm sticking around when you're a trouble magnet."  
        "Hey!" she sputtered.  
        "I told you I wouldn't promise anything," he said coolly.  
        "But..." She could feel tears threaten to fall from her eyes.  
        "Crying's not going to work on me. See you around. Maybe," he said waving over his shoulder.  
        Lina instead of crying, got angry and fireballed the retreating chimera. However, this time he was wearing a flame retardant shirt and hood. (;_;) "You... usotsuki! (liar!) You said you'd help! Hey I'm talking to you! Stupid Stone Boy!"  
        The last caused him to stop in his tracks, turn around and yell back, "Don't call me that! Anyway I DID help so don't call me a liar!"  
        "You know Zel, you're the biggest coward I've ever seen."  
        Doing his best to remain calm, the chimera counted to ten before coming up to her and say, "Insulting me like that won't work either. I already know I'm a coward, so sue me."  
        Lina then decided to resort to the lowest blow she could think of. "Stone Boy!" she said, sticking out her tongue while pulling down the skin below her eye.  
        "I said not to call me that!"  
        "Stupid, stupid, stupid Stone Boy! You stupid, lying, chicken of a Stone Boy!" she retorted, beginning to feel better now that she was releasing some of the stress.  
        Zelgadis growled and threw up his arms in frustration. "That's it! I am so out of here! I only came here because you had to insist on going ahead! I tried to warn you, but  _NO_! You think you're so smart, solve this damn labyrinth on your own! Goodbye!"  
        Lina just stood gaping at the fuming chimera. Never in all her life had she seen anyone so upset, not even Amelia got  _THAT_  upset. Zelgadis walked off a few feet in a huff before calming down and leant against a hedge. She was starting to feel sorry. She had after all used the one insult that had really hurt him to the core. Feeling like a complete fool, Lina hung her head, not wanting to make contact with the chimera's piercing eyes.  
        "Don't think I'm going to come save you next time," he said as calmly as if he'd been commenting on the weather.  
        "You so sure about that?" she asked. Zelgadis snorted as he looked away and thus missed the sneaky look on the girl's face as she crept up to him and snatched his money pouch from his belt.  
        "Oi!" he yelled in protest. Lina laughed triumphantly as she levitated herself and dangled the pouch just outside the chimera's reach.  
        "Give that back!" he demanded.  
        "Nuh-uh, you get it back  _AFTER_  I get to the castle. Now show me the way!" 

        "You heard Him. The castle is the  _LAST_  place I'd rather be!" he protested. "I don't believe this.  _REAR_  FIRST at the Fangirls..." he mumbled closing his eyes and shaking his head.  
        Ignoring the chimera's pleas, Lina looked around the garden hoping to catch some sign of her goal. "Now where the heck's the stupid castle?" Looking over the hedges, she could just make out the spires of Xellos' home glinting in the distance, still a long way off. "Great just what we need another damned maze. Hmm, now which would be the quickest way?"  
        "Beats me," said a  _VERY_  grumpy chimera.  
        "Urusai! (Shut up!) I'm trying to think here!" complained Lina.  
        "Give back my money!" he whined, still trying to reach the pouch the girl had forgotten that was dangling from her hand. "Give it back you, brat!"  
        Landing and ignoring the fuming chimera, she closed her eyes and extended a finger, pointing at the various exits as she chanted, "Eenie, meenie, miney, mo."  
        "Oh that's really clever," muttered the chimera.  
        Once she had finished choosing an exit using the 'scientific method' she strode up to the nearest one and said, "All right, let's try this one." With that she strode through the narrow path between the hedges. Zelgadis reluctantly followed her only because he wanted to get his money back.  
        The path ended in another clearing just like the one she had just left. "What the?" she said confused. Daring to peek into the urn there, she saw a ladder sticking out of a black hole in the bottom. They were right where they started from! Swearing, she then grabbed Zelgadis and ran through the next nearest exit.

 

        After trying all the exits, Lina yelled and stomped her foot on the stone path. "This is nuts! How the hell am I supposed to get outta here?!"  
        "You're the smart one," the chimera said looking rather pleased with himself for some reason. "I'm sure you can figure it out."  
        "Don't be so damn smug! You could be some help here you know," she spat back.  
        "Why should I?" he asked refusing to move from where he was.  
        "Because," she said staring at him after coming extremely close, "if you don't, you won't get this back." She patted the pouch, which was now attached to her belt and it made a pleasant jingling sound as the coins inside bounced around.  
        "But... I honestly don't know which way to go. I haven't been given the duty to do care for this part of the labyrinth," he said regretting ever meeting the girl. "Look, that's MY money! Give it back! I did my part of the bargain! It's not fair!"  
        "No, it isn't," she said agreeing. "But that's the way life is, ne?"  
        Finally looking around, they noticed a small figure sat in the middle of the clearing on a raised dais of some sort. Upon closer inspection they came to realize they were facing a very short old woman with silvery aqua hair. On her head was a straw hat, which had some sort of bird that was more lizard than bird. It appeared that she was deep in thought since she hadn't moved since the two had begun to stare at her.  
        "Um, excuse me," Lina said coming up to the old woman. "Can you help me?"  
        The old woman still hadn't moved or acknowledge her presence. She just sat there, ignoring the two people before her. She did raise her head though, but it was obvious she was looking at something only she could see and chose not to be bothered with anything else. "Please!" the red haired girl begged. "Obaa-san!"  
        The bird on her hat jumped up and down and glared at her, "Get lost! Can't you see she's thinking?!"  
        The old woman held up a finger and said, "Sh!"  
        "We're sorry," Lina said then sat down on the dais steps and waited for her to finish her thinking.  
        "And stop staring! She  _HATES_  that!" ordered the bird lizard.  
        "Sorry," Lina said quickly looking away.  
        The old woman opened her mouth and said, "Quiet."  
        "Geez I was just trying to be helpful," it said put off.  
        "Where was I?" asked the old woman, putting her finger against her chin.  
        "How should I know?" the bird lizard replied, "I'm not the one thinking here."  
        It was then that she finally noticed she wasn't along and smiled at the young person sitting on the steps. "Oh, konnichi wa little boy," she said pleasantly.  
        Lina sputtered, but kept her temper. Her mother and stepmother both told her constantly to be nice to those much older than her. "I'm actually a girl, obaa-san," she said with her best polite smile she could muster.  
        "Oh, sou desu ne? (Is that so?) And who is this?" she asked looking at Zelgadis who looked none too happy to be the center of attention. "Your oniisan perhaps?"  
        "Um, no." Lina said slightly embarrassed to have the chimera mistaken for her brother. "He's um... my friend."  
        He was about to explain to the old woman, though not so politely, that he and the ill tempered girl were in no way whatsoever related, but stopped himself when he heard Lina's answer. Looking at her he began to blush. She was the first and only person in this sorry excuse for a kingdom to actually call him 'friend.' Did she really mean it?  
        "Really? Well, now what can I do for you young lady?" said the old woman.  
        "I'd really appreciate it if you could tell me how to get to the castle from here. Every path I take just leads back to here and I'm really have to get there," the redhead explained then added the universal magic word, "please, obaa-san."  
        "Oh just call me Auntie Aqua, dear," said the old woman smiling. "So you want to get to the castle, ne?"  
        "How's  _THAT_  for smarts?" the bird lizard piped up, obviously unimpressed with 'Auntie Aqua'.  
        "Will you be quiet!" demanded Auntie.  
        "Oops did I say that out loud?" said the bird, sheepishly. Lina quickly covered her mouth to suppress a giggle.  
        "Well, dearie, sometimes the best way forward is to go back," she said pursing her lips. "And often the way back is to -"  
        "go forward," the bird lizard answered for her. "That's some advice, huh?"  
        "I thought I told you to shut up!" Auntie said getting annoyed. "You see, young lady when it looks like we're not getting anywhere, most of the time we are."  
        "Well  _WE_  definitely aren't," Zelgadis said not believing he was listening to this nonsense.  
        "Maybe so, young sir," said the old woman, "but maybe not. Not everything is all it..." Auntie Aqua began to feel another profound thought invade her mind and quickly finished the sentence before going completely catatonic as before. "appears to be."  
        "Well, that's it all folks!" said the bird lizard in a very bad imitation of Porky Pig. "Just leave a contribution in the box."  
        Looking down, Lina saw a tiny box in the old woman's hand and it rattled expectantly.  Her hand went unconsciously to the pouch at her hip. "Don't even think it!" the chimera warned. "That's mine, remember?"  
        She sheepishly took away her hand and said, "Well I might as well use the only thing I've got left." The girl took off one of her gloves and removed her mother's ring. "I really wish I didn't have to do this, but kaasan always said that you should try to give to those who need stuff." With that she dropped the ring into the box and it make a tinkling sound as it landed in the empty box.  
        "What a nice, kid," the bird lizard said after Lina and Zelgadis left the dais to examine the exits.  
        "You didn't have to give her that," the chimera complained. He had hoped she'd give it to him instead. It did look rather expensive. "She didn't tell us anything worth while.  
        "I don't know, Zel. I mean maybe she was right," said the girl pondering what Auntie Aqua had told her. "Look, we certainly got no where going forward, right?" He nodded, not knowing where this was leading. "Soooo maybe we were supposed to go backwards."  
        "Come again?" he asked, confused.  
        "You know, walk through the exits backwards. It's a long shot, but it's better than standing here."  
        The chimera had to agree with her on that.  _ANYTHING_  was better than doing nothing. Sighing, he followed the redhead through an exit only this time walking backwards, feeling completely stupid.  
        "Would you look at that?!" exclaimed the bird lizard after the two left. "They actually listened to ya, 'Auntie'." Below, the old woman softly snored away. "It's soo enlightening to stay with you." Another snore was the reply. Sighing, the bird lizard decided to join its companion in a nap and curled up on her hat.


	7. Chapter Seven  A New Friend

 

            The two of them continued to walk backwards through the hedge maze, but made no progress at all. They came across several dead ends and somehow always ended up at the only visible exit, which had been the urn from where they entered. "You know, maybe that 'Auntie Aqua' wasn't exactly all there," said the red haired girl.

            "You're just figuring that out NOW?" retorted her chimeric companion.

            "Shut up, Stone Boy. I don't hear you coming up with any great ideas."

            "Oh? I suppose you have lots?" he shot back.

            Lina was livid. It was just like that fruitcake mazoku to create a maze with no other exit than the entrance. As they walked along, the castle remained in view, just out of reach. To the petite sorceress, it was like a carrot dangled in front of a stubborn donkey to make it move, and she was the donkey.

            Any respect she might have had for the purple haired mazoku king dwindled away with each and every step she took. She clenched her fists at her sides as she continued walk with Zelgadis. She mentally berated herself for even considering respecting a fruitcake like him.

            There she admitted it. She did have faint feelings for him. She had even thought he was handsome when he first appeared in her house. But good looks alone didn't go far with Lina once she saw what a guy was like. To tell the truth she was really beginning to regret ever making that stupid wish.

            "Why did you do that?" Zelgadis said, breaking the silence and her train of thought.

            "Do what?"

            "Say I was your friend."

            "Because you are," she said blushing slightly, "You're no  exactly best friend material, but you're the only one I've got in this crazy place."

            The chimera was about to shoot back a sarcastic retort, but decided to ponder on what Lina said. In fact, he was blushing and turned his head not wanting her to see. "I've never had a friend before."

            The girl felt a stab of pity and was about to say something when a loud yell sounded from up ahead, causing them to freeze in their tracks. Thinking it was Xellos come to torment them some more, Zelgadis decided to give up on ever getting his money  back and ran off in the opposite direction. "Keep the money, I'm not going to risk my life for it!", he said not bothering to look back.

            "Hey! I thought you were my friend!" Lina yelled back at the quickly retreating chimera.

            "I'm not! I'm only interested in one person, ME! I'm the only friend I need!" With that, Zelgadis disappeared around the corner they had turned earlier.

            "Oh yeah?! Well, who the hell needs ya?! I'm fine by myself!" she yelled back not caring he heard her or not.

            The petite sorceress strode off boldly towards the direction of the yell. Then the sound came again making her crack her thin veneer of bravado. "C'mon Lina," she said to herself in an attempt  to get her courage back. "You should know by now that nothing's what it seems here. So maybe whoever or whatever's making that racket isn't as big as it sounds."

            Once she regained the ability to walk, she went along the path until she came to a stone courtyard. In the center of the courtyard a young man was hanging upside down from a tree while a group of mazoku soldiers were poking at him with sticks and swords. Some of the sticks had a tiny mazoku clinging to one end and they were biting him whenever they came close. Those with the nipping sticks, held them against his body as long as they could until they were forced to dodge one of the man's wildly swinging arms.

            Lina quickly ducked out of sight. 'No sense getting caught,' she thought. She was incensed. "Those namagomi!" she muttered. She couldn't bear to watch a defenseless man being tortured like that. Searching desperately for a weapon, she discovered a few loose rocks and a strange glowing sword made of light. Taking hold of the sword in one hand, she picked up a rock and aimed.

            The stone hit the helmet of one of the soldiers with a loud clang. Lina winced, but sighed in relief when none of the others made any move toward her. The unfortunate mazoku's visor fell onto his face, completely blinding it. "Oi! Where'd everybody go?" he cried as he ran around like a chicken with its head cut off. His nipping stick not caring who was who bit whatever and whoever it brushed against. Soon the soldiers began to fight each other as more and more helmet visors were knocked down.

            Taking advantage of the chaos, Lina charged and managed to slay a few of the mazoku with the glowing sword before the rest ran off screaming and gibbering something about a glowing monster of death. "Cowards," Lina said wiping a hand across her forehead.

            "You poor guy," she said coming up to the hanging man. She made to cut him down, but he swatted at her causing Lina to lose her balance and land on her rear. "Hey, is that how you treat someone who's trying to help?" she scolded, brushing herself off.

            The man eyed her suspiciously still not ready to trust anyone. He growled then made another swipe at her. Lina quickly stepped out of the way then glared at him. "Fine. If you wanna stay there, it's fine with me," she spat, totally annoyed.

            He regarded the girl for a few more moments then went over his choices. "Um... could you get me down?" he pleaded.

            Lina regarded the hanging man carefully. Experience taught her that most of the people in the labyrinth couldn't be trusted. 'I hope I can trust you, ' she thought as she twisted her head to look in his face. He had long blond hair, which was hanging upside down as well. He was dressed in bright blue armor and his blue eyes had the vacant and innocent expression of the village idiot. "Listen you'd better not attack me if I let you down," she warned.

            "Please get me down," he begged not liking the feeling of all his blood rushing to his head.

            "Well you don't look dangerous. I hope I'm right this time," she said. Taking the sword, she chanted a levitation spell and floated to where the rope was attached to a branch, cutting through with one clean stroke.

            The man landed with a shout. The girl eyed him warily and he brushed himself off. "Itai," he said as he rubbed his head. "Thanks... um -" he looked at her, not remembering if she'd introduced herself or not.

            "You're welcome. I'm Lina," she said floating down again but stayed a bit away still unsure of his true nature.

            "Lina," he said, his brow crossing as he did his best to commit it to memory. He was terrible with names. "I'm..." He sat down and began to think again. Suddenly he punched his hand and shot back up startling her. "I'm Gourry!" he said sticking a hand out.

            'Poor guy really must have hit his head bad,' she thought as she shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Gourry." She returned to looking around and saw that the courtyard she'd been led to was yet another dead end. Sighing she turned back to her latest companion. "I hate to sound rude here, but I've really gotta be going."

            "Oh where are you going, Lina?" he asked completely curious.

            "Wouldn't you like to know?" she muttered. "I don't suppose you know how to get to the castle do you?"

            "What castle?" he asked with all the innocence of a child.

            Grabbing the blond, she sighed exasperatedly and pointed. "THAT castle! The one that's right in front of us baka! Don't tell me you never heard of the mazoku king!"

            "There's a mazoku king? I didn't know that? Is he rich?"

            Completely stressed out now, Lina let go of  him only to fireball the unfortunate Gourry. 'It must be that time of the month,' he thought forgetting that a sorceress lost her magic when their time showed up. "I'm really sorry Lina, but I really didn't know there was a castle here until you told me," he said extremely sorry. After all both his mother and grandmother INSISTED that he be nice to girls no matter how mean they were.

            Seeing the fearful look on her new friend's face, Lina put the sword down, which he grabbed and put it away in its sheath. "It's okay, Gourry. I'm just having a REALLY bad day. Anyway, I doubt ANYONE knows how to get to the castle." She then looked around the courtyard again and noticed that where there was a dead end, two doors now stood. "Why am I not surprised?" she muttered more to herself than the man beside her who was now examining them with equal curiosity.

            Going up to one she saw that the knocker was in the shape of a human head with a ring for knocking stuck in its ears. What surprised her about the knocker was that it had spiky purple hair that stuck out at the sides and its eyes were not the same color. One was purple while the other was gold and was a mazoku eye. A red jewel was embedded in its forehead. "It's very rude to stare, oujo-san," it said startling her.

            "Um, sorry. I didn't know you were alive," she said.

            "What? Speak up!" he said, being deaf from having a ring thrust into his ears.

            A mumbling came from the other door and they now turned to look at it. As with the previous door, this one had a knocker, but unlike the other it was a head of a young woman with short black hair and blue eyes. A ring was in her mouth and she mumbled again, trying to talk while having the huge thing in her mouth. Pulling the ring from her mouth, Lina asked the knocker, "What did you say?"  
            Letting out a sigh of relief, the knocker licked her lips before replying. "You can't talk to him, he can't hear you. WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! My poor Rezo-sama!!" She began to wail uncontrollably.

            "What? What are you talking about over there? Speak up!" shouted the Rezo knocker. "You'd better not be insulting Eris," he warned, but none of them paid any attention.

            Taking out a hanky, Gourry held it to Eris' nose. "Um, here," he said not wanting to see a girl cry.

            "Arigatou," said the knocker and blew her nose into the hanky, causing various birds and creatures to scamper away at the loud trumpeting sound. The blond took back his hanky and wrung it out before putting it back in his armor.

            Once the knocker had composed herself, Lina asked Eris the burning question that was on her mind. "Where do these doors go?"

            "Gee, I have no idea," Eris replied. "I only wanted to be with Rezo-sama so I didn't ask about the details of the job. We're only the knockers."

            "Oh," the red haired girl said crestfallen. She tried to open the door by turning the knob, but it wouldn't budge. It seemed to be locked. "How do you open these things?"

            "Mumble, mumble, mumble," complained Rezo. "Doesn't anyone know how to speak clearly anymore?"

            Seeing the Eris knocker was about to cry again, Lina quickly repeated her question. "Look, I've really gotta get out of here, how do you open the doors?"

            "Knock and the door will open," Eris replied on the verge of tears. Meanwhile, Gourry, being bored, had stuck the ring into his mouth and was now happily grinning away.

            "Gimme that!" Lina said. "Yeesh what a moron!" She then promptly attempted to replace the ring back in its owner's mouth. Distracted by the impending doom of having a ring thrust into her mouth, the knocker clamped it shut as tight as she could. "Aw c'mon! I wanna knock!" said the sorceress.

            A slight chuckle came from the other knocker. "Doesn't want that ring back in her mouth, eh? Can't say I blame her," he said.

            "We'll see about that," Lina said, smiling evilly and making not only Gourry, but the Eris knocker nervous as well.

            "Um, what are you going to do, Lina?" asked the blond.

            "This." Lina held the ring in front of the knocker's mouth as she promptly pinched her nose, blocking off the air. Eris held her breath as long as she could and was beginning to turn as purple as Rezo's hair. Not wanting to die of asphyxiation, the knocker finally opened her mouth and let out her breath. Seizing the chance, the petite sorceress quickly shoved the ring back in  place and knocked. "Sorry about that," she said as the door opened.

            "Don wuwy I'm used do id," said Eris, the ring muffling her voice.

            "Well see ya around Gourry," Lina said going through the doorway not noticing the blond was now following her like a little lost puppy dog. She saw she was now in a forest and the castle seemed to be a bit closer, but still loomed out of reach. "Well I hope it's all downhill from here," she said.

            As if on cue, the ground beneath Gourry opened up and he disappeared just as he was about to yell for help. Hearing something behind her, Lina spun around. "Gourry?" she asked, looking to see if the blond man had followed her. There was no one there. Only trees and no sign of the door she'd come from. "All right, if that's the way you wanna play, Xellos," she said and began her trek through the forest.

 


	8. Chapter Eight  Send in the Clones

            Lina continued to walk further into the forest as if her newfound friend's disappearance meant nothing to her. But after several minutes of dead silence, she couldn't get rid of the feeling she was being watched. "Gourry?" she said in a somewhat subdued tone. Only the sound of the wind in the trees cared to answer her.

            "Gourry!" she screamed, fearing that Xellos had found her again and was going to send something nasty like the Cleaners after her. She had no idea how right she was, though it wasn't the Mazoku King, but something so much worse. "What's with this place?!" Lina heard a twig snap somewhere and, panicking, the petite redhead ran deeper and deeper into the trees. Searching for any sign of the blond swordsman, she disregarded the fact that the farther she ran, the darker and thicker the trees got.

            Suddenly, a tall black figure leapt out of the shadows behind the girl. "OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!" it laughed, making its unusually large chest jiggle with each breath. Lina whirled around, took one look at the figure then screamed.

 

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            Meanwhile, poor Zelgadis was still a wandering around the hedge maze, moping over his stolen money pouch. He wouldn't have cared much, but he hated the fact that a hot-tempered, spoiled, flat chested brat had managed to get close enough to steal it. 'Well, what did you expect, Zelgadis?' he asked himself, 'Try to be nice to someone and you'll only get grief in the end.'

            Hearing a scream, he felt a pang of guilty as he imagined a certain red haired girl in danger. He turned from the path that led back to the labyrinth entrance and started off toward the scream. "Hold on Lina, I'm coming!" He sped around a corner and bumped straight into --

            Xellos! "Oh, hello, Zadlegis," said the Mazoku King, the ever present cheerful smile plastered on his face.

            "It's ZELGADIS!" said the rather irritated and surprised chimera.

            "Why the rush Zel-kun, hmm?"

            "Oh... um.. ah," he stalled, then pretended to have found something fascinating on the ground while desperately searching for a ruse the expert trickster would buy. Xellos was in no hurry, so he decided to let his servant stall a bit longer, amused at the chimera's sheepish behavior. "The, um, brat got away from me, and ah, I was just about to go after her. So, um, excuse me, your majesty."

            The purple haired mazoku didn't budge. He opened his eyes and narrowed them a bit, the cheerful smile never leaving his face. He knew the chimera had lied. He'd been watching Lina ever since this whole affair began and knew exactly what was going on between the two. Still, it was more fun to watch his victims squirm a bit, not to mention yummy.

            "I'll go bring her back to the start just like you wanted." Zelgadis was really worried now. He wanted the king to do something, hit him, yell at him, anything instead of

just floating there with that annoyingly cheerful smile on his face.

            "Naru hodo (I see)," he said, "I was certain you were rushing off to her rescue like the knight in shining armor you are. But you're not foolish enough to do that now are you? Not after that nice little chat we had earlier."

            The chimera gave a halfhearted chuckle. "Of course not. Why would I do something stupid like help her? She's a pathetically short, underdeveloped, violent, and rude shrew, which I'd be better off without."

            Xellos landed in front of the chimera, a look of concern on his face. "Yare, yare, you poor dear," he said with mock pity, "You've lost all that lovely money of yours."

            Zelgadis looked at his belt, following his liege's line of sight (get your minds outtta the gutter ppl!! Yeesh hentais.) "Hmm... looks like I have. It must've gotten snagged on a hedge somewhere. Guess I'll have to look for it, great," he said in the best surprised tone he could muster. "I have to go after her now, before she gets any closer to the castle. I'll see you back at the entrance."

            He turned to walk away, but Mazoku King spoke again. "Chotto matte (Wait a sec), Zel-kun. I have a much more amusing idea. Why not give this to Lina-chan?" Xellos produced a crystal ball from his always-handy bag 'o' tricks and tossed it to Zelgadis.

            As he caught it, it turned into an apple. The chimera eyed it carefully. "What's this?"

            "Just a little gift," was Xellos' reply.

            "It's not going to make her sick or anything is it?" Zelgadis asked, remembering all too well about a certain folk tale.

            "Maa, maa, it sounds like you've got a crush on our little guest, Zel-kun," remarked the purple haired man.

            "No I haven't. I just don't want her ghost coming back to haunt me for the rest of my life." He was in for it now. Xellos was sure to punish him for getting attached to HIS toy.

            "Just give it to her, Stone Boy. That's all you need to do," the king said narrowing his eyes again.

            The chimera gulped. "I'll give it to her if I know it won't hurt her," said Zelgadis, not understanding why he was being so stubborn. 'What's the difference, she'll only wind up dead sooner or later if she continues to stay here.'

            "Yare, yare. You've really lost it, Zelly. What makes you think a kawaii little thing like Lina-chan would ever like a freakish creature like you?" Xellos said, tossing Zelgadis' misguided feelings towards his appearance into the chimera's face.

            'I. WILL. NOT. CRY,' he scolded himself as he held back the tears in his eyes. After all these years, he was still touchy about his looks. "She said we were... Shimatta!" He had managed to stop the slip, but Xellos had already heard him.

            "Koibito, Zel-kun?" his liege lord finished for him. "Was that it? Or friends perhaps?"

            The chimera quickly pulled his hood over his head, wanting to hide the blush he knew was on his face. "I really don't care. I just want her out of my life," he said, gritting his teeth.

            "Zelgadis," Xellos began. "You give her that apple or I'll give YOU to the you-know-what."

            Zelgadis immediately blanched and bowed. "As  you command, your majesty," he replied then attempted to run off again.

            "By the way Zel-kun," came the Mazoku King's voice, "if Lina-chan ever kisses you I'll turn you back into a human and make you a prince," he said with a smile that would make a Chesire Cat nervous.

            "Y-you will?" Zelgadis dared to ask.

            "Prince of the Rabid Fangirls." The purple haired mazoku vanished, his maniacal laugh still hanging on the breeze.

            The chimera looked at the red, juicy apple in his hand, trying his best not to cry. He wanted to lash out, scream, yell, and virtually blow the place to bits until he was nice and numb again, but he had an order to obey. Xellos never ever said his name right unless he was really serious. And this time he was dead serious. He had no choice but to do as what his master said or he'd be facing a fate worse than death.

 

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            The figure that had frightened Lina was a creature known as a Naga clone. Not a truly evil being by nature, but these beings possessed a laugh so nerve-wracking that people ran and hid whenever they heard it. Babies cried and old women prayed to their gods to make it stop. One Naga clone was enough to drive a sober man to drink, but Naga clones tended to hang around in packs, which meant when one started to laugh, the others would join in, thus creating a stereo effect enough to drive anyone insane. This is how our heroine found herself. Lost in a dark forest with a pack of ten of the most feared creatures in the labyrinth.

            Taking a good look at the creatures, she saw that they all had the same long black hair and were wearing the skimpiest bikini tops of black leather and equally skimpy biker shorts, decorated with skull ornaments. What struck her as odd was that they all looked like an older version of Amelia.

            "Wha-what do you want?" the poor girl asked, backing up against a tree.

            "OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" the first clone laughed.

            "Ahh!! Yamero! (Stop!!)" Lina yelled at the top of her lungs. Surprisingly enough, the Nagas did.

            "Oh dear, sorry about that, little boy," apologized Naga #2.

            "I'm a girl, damn it! Why does everyone always have to think I'm a guy?!"

            A third clone came up to the redhead and looked at her chest area VERY closely. "Are you sure? I can't see anything."

            Another Naga clone joined her sister and did a hands-on inspection of Lina's chest. "Oi! Dame!!! Ecchi!!!!" The petite girl batted at the hands feeling her up, blushing bright red. Squirming she was able to get away from the Naga clones only to have her only way of escape blocked by yet another of the creatures.

            "She's a girl all right," reported Naga #4.

            The first Naga, after discussing Lina's measurements with the others, started to laugh again, but got kicked in the shins by the now fully embarrassed and angry redhead. "That wasn't very nice," whimpered Naga #1.

            "You call THAT a chest?!" Naga #2 thrust her extremely ample chest in the petite sorceress' face. "Now THIS is a chest," she said proudly.

            "Just look at how nice and round it is," said a fifth clone, caressing her chest.

            "And bouncy," piped up Naga #3, then laughed.

            By then, poor Lina had had enough of the clones and when she saw an opening, she ran for it like a hundred Lunas were at her tail. "Hey! Come back!" called one of the Nagas. "You haven't heard about my chest's best quality!" cried another.

            "I don't care! I'm outta here!" she yelled over her shoulder, running as fast as she could.

 

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            Back at the castle, Xellos was watching Lina in one of his many crystal balls and having the time of his life. Baby Amelia was sitting comfortably on the Mazoku King's lap. Suddenly, the girl's face filled the ball, causing Amelia to gurgle in delight. She reached out to pat Lina's face. Whe she couldn't touch her 'neechan's face, Amelia made a puzzled sound. Thinking it was one of the games she had been playing with the purple haired man, the baby went back to happily playing 'patty-cake' with the mazoku who had been in charge of diaper duty.

            "Mite (Look), Lina-chan," he said holding onto Amelia. "Is this what you're looking for?" Amelia reached for her sister again and he chuckled. "Such a big fuss over such a little thing."

            Putting the crystal away, he conjured a baby bottle and gave it to the baby who happily accepted it. "Well, don't worry little one, you'll be going home to your mama soon enough," Xellos said watching baby Amelia enjoy her meal. "Your nasty neechan will forget all about you as soon as Zel-kun gives her my present. Then my dear Lina-chan, you'll be all mine."

            The king's laughter startled the mazoku in the throne room and they stopped whatever it was they were doing. Outside in the halls, various mazoku paused in their duties, wondering what it was that made their master laugh so much.

            A tiny pang of guilt sparked in Xellos' heart, but he quickly pushed it away.  He needed Lina for his plan to get an heir. He decided that kidnapping someone else's kid wasn't going to work out because most babies had a strange connection with their birth mothers. Besides he had no idea whatsoever how to raise a baby. That is why he needed the girl, and trickery was the only way he'd get her to cooperate.

            Sighing, he went back to monitoring Lina's progress.

 

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            Meanwhile, Lina had run into a humongous wall and was now thoroughly trapped in the herd of Naga clones. she screamed as they laughed and pointed at her, making various comments about her chest size all the while. Hot tears began to fall from her eyes. "It's not fair!" she cried, "Why did I have to have such a small body?!" As one of the Nagas began to advance on her, the red haired girl screamed.

            As if by magic, a rope ladder appeared, offering the frantic Lina escape. Looking up, she saw a familiar face - Zelgadis'.

            "Hurry and climb up!" he called.

            Nodding, Lina climbed the ladder and scrambled onto the top of the wall. The chimera quickly threw his end over the side, causing a couple of the clones to fall with it.

            "Good riddance," he spat dusting off his hands.

            "Y-you came back!" the petite girl cried, ecstatic. "I knew you'd come help me! Arigatou, Zel!"

            With that, Lina threw her arms around the chimera's neck and pulled his head down, closer to hers.

            "Lina, please... don't," he begged. He didn't like where this was going and he knew Xellos would make good on his threats.

            But the redhead paid him no attention and -

            SMOOCH!

            A very loud kiss landed on his cheek and then they felt the earth move. (It opened up under them!! Stop being so ecchi minna!!! Yeesh!)

 


	9. Chapter Nine  Fangirls, Bishounen, and Apples, Oh My!

        Lina and Zelgadis slid down a chute which spat them out onto a rather narrow ledge. All right, it was barely wide enough for a body to walk along. Luckily, the chimera had gone first and he had landed the right way and was now helping the girl to steady herself.

        As she stood panting, Zelgadis silently fumed. He really didn't regret being kissed, but he did regret ever coming to this insane place. 'Damn curse!' he swore. 'Damn obsession of mine!'

        Once they recovered, the two friends cautiously began to make their way along the high ledge. Neither of them wanted to even know just how high they were. The ledge narrowed even more a few feet ahead in each direction, the stones that made up the path were worn and loose. The chimera stepped on one of these stones and the ledge crumbled under his weight. He let out a loud yell and Lina made a grab for him.

        She tried to pull him back up, but he was too heavy due to the fact that he was one-third golem. Sighing heavily, Zelgadis cast a spell. "Ray Wing," he said calmly then floated over to the other side of the gap he created. Mentally kicking herself yet again, Lina followed suit.

When they were safe again on a slightly wider spot, the chimera glared at he petite redhead next to him. "Why did you have to do that?" he asked, not grateful for the failed attempt of help.

        "Do what? Try to rescue you?" she asked back. "Don't worry I won't even bother next time," she added with a huff.

        "You  _kissed_  me!" True to his word, Xellos had indeed punished his servant for that one little kiss.

        She blushed as she remembered what they -  _she_  - was doing before the ground opened up and sucked them in. "I was only thanking you," she said. " _You're_ the one who came back to save me, remember?"

        "I did not," he protested. "I only wanted to get my money back, which  _you_  stole by the way."

        "Uh-huh, right. Whatever. Well thanks any way, Zel."

        The chimera began to blush and shift his feet nervously, forgetting that they weren't exactly entirely safe. He had to figure out a way to give her that apple without being suspicious. As he was thinking, the stones under them crumbled again and they found themselves tossed head over heels and falling through the air.

        Expecting to die a horrible death at the end of the fall, Lina was completely and pleasantly surprised when she landed on something cool and soft. Looking around, she saw she was in a large hall of some sort. The room was the size of a football field and she was in the middle of it. Cushions of silk and satin practically covered every inch of the floor. The only visible exit was a set of large double doors and she guessed they were locked.

        Several gorgeous men of various ages lay on some of the cushions. They were all scantily clothed and she felt her cheeks turn bright red. They looked at her and backed away not sure if she was one of their tormentors or not. Not too far from her was a familiar blond bishounen. "Gourry!" she squealed, glomping him.  **(This is for all you Lina/Gourry supporters)**  The other bishounen in the room scattered to the far corners of the hall, not wanting to be glomped by another insane female.

        "NO MORE GIRLS!!!!!" the blond screamed, forcing himself free of Lina's death grip hug.

        "It's okay, Gourry. It's me, Lina, remember?" she said, perplexed at her friend's odd behavior. Then she blushed when she noticed he was clad only in a pair of blue speedos.  **(A little something for you Gourry girls -_^)**

        "Oh hi, Lina," he said relieved that the 'girls haven't come back yet.

        "Would you please get off me?" asked a slightly nasal voice. During his mad dash for escape, Gourry had landed on top of the chimera, their legs winding up being tangled.  **(Here's a tidbit for all you Gourry/Zel supporters. Aren't I a nice miko?)**  Both men blushed then quickly untangled themselves.  **(Aww, shucks! And it was getting good too. -_-)**

        "Um sorry -" the blond swordsman said searching for a name.

        "That's my friend, Zelgadis," Lina said explainingt o the vacant headed blond. "Oh, okay."

        "Zel, this is Gourry, a friend," she said introducing him.

        "I thought  _I_  was your friend," the chimera said a bit jealous.

        "You're  _both_  my friends," she replied somewhat amused at Zelgadis' apparent jealousy.

        Zelgadis wanted to say something more when his super enhanced hearing picked up the sound of many approaching feet. "Oh no!" he cried and the other captive bishounen began to echo the cry when some of the better listeners also heard doom approaching.

        "What's wrong?" Lina and Gourry asked.

        "It's  _them_. The Rabid Fangirls," said a tall red haired man with violet eyes. He definitely did  _not_  want to be there.

        "You're a gonner now Stone Boy," remarked a braided boy with extremely long chestnut hair.

        "You shut up, Death Boy," Zelgadis retorted.

        "Oi! Look there's another door!" Lina said pointing across from where she sat, not even bothering to question its sudden appearance.

        The three of them ran for the door, ignoring the various pleas and warnings from the bishounen. Lina was about to turn the knob when there was a small explosion and was knocked back.

        Blocking their only means of safety, was a short red fox mazoku. An eyepatch covered his left eye. "Halt thieves!" he shouted, "None shall pass!"

        "Oh for crying out loud! We've gotta get out of here," the girl objected.

        "I'm sorry, kid, but no one is allowed beyond this room. I swore an oath to Xellos-sama." The fox then took out a small bomb, prepared to use it again if these fools wouldn't listen.

        "Who are you?" Gourry asked, not remembering if he'd seen the fox before or not.

        "I'm Jiiras of the Red Fox tribe," he replied, proudly, "And I have sworn to protect this door with my life!" He threw the bomb and they ducked. It landed where Lina had been sitting before, fizzled a bit then went out. "Oops forgot about that dud," Jiiras said sheepishly.

        "Look Jiiras-san," the red haired girl started, "We really have to get out of here before those Fangirls show up." Just then, they could hear the faint sound of giggling and arguing coming down the hall outside.

        "Please!" the three pleaded.

        "Fangirls?" the fox asked confused. "I know nothing about any girls."

        "Can't you see all these bishounen in here?!" Lina asked, frantic now.

        "I don't see anyone 'cept you three," Jiiras said glancing over the hall.

        "You've got to be kidding," she said to him.

        "My eye's the best around! I see no bishounen just his majesty's treasure," was the fox's reply.

        "I'm getting out of here!" Zelgadis said and made for the door, knocking Jiiras aside and opening it. Once the way out was secured, the chimera dashed through and slammed the door in the blond's face.

        "Hey!!!" he said, hurt.

        "Look buddy, we're in mortal danger here," Lina said grabbing the fox mazoku and lifted him off his feet.

        "Um... what was that oath you swore?" Gourry asked, suddenly remembering that Jiiras had mentioned an oath.

        Clearing his throat, the fox said proudly, "I have sworn, with my life, that no one shall leave this room without my permission."

        "Well then, can we have your permission?" the blond asked, in a moment of pure genius.

At the other end of the hall, a key was being fit to the lock and one of the handles began to slowly turn. The Fangirls loved to torment the poor bishounen inside.

        "Please?" Lina urged and using her best lost puppy look.

        The fox considered the request for a moment then said, "Um... okay," then stepped aside to allow them passage.

        The girl and nearly nekkid swordsman shot through the door after uttering a swift 'Thank you'. Just at that moment, hundreds upon hundreds of girls and young women stormed through the double doors on the other end. They then immediately began to glomp the bishounen who were not lucky enough to find hiding places in the shadows.

 

        They were standing outside a domed building surrounded by a forest. Thrilled they had escaped a fate worse than death, Lina and Gourry heaved sighs of relief. "That sure was close. I  _never_  wanna go through anything like that again," said the redhead.

        "Go through what?" Gourry asked, innocently.

        Choosing to ignore him this time, she just pulled him along. "Let's get going, Gourry. I'm almost out of time."

        "For what?"

        "Arrrgh!!" she roared in frustration.

        "Um, you guys need any help?" asked Jiiras, who'd just popped through the door.

        "Where'd you come from?!" Lina asked. "Nevermind. You wouldn't happen to know the way to Xellos' castle do you?"

        "I sure do!" the fox crowed, "Are you going to pay his majesty a visit?"

        "You could say that," she said, grinning evilly. 'Yatta! Finally a  _real_  guide!' The petite girl grabbed him and pushed the fox mazoku in front of them. "Lead on Jiiras-san," she ordered.

        The three began to walk along the path, forgetting the chimera sulking among the tree shadows. The pulled out the apple Xellos had given him, looking at it as if it were one of Jiiras' bombs. He was about to chuck it away when he heard the Mazoku King's voice on the wind. "Uh-uh-uh Zel-chan. Bad chimera!" Zelgadis could almost see his lord standing there, wagging a finger at him, then he imagined his hands around the king's neck, squeezing it ever so slowly.

        "Yare, yare, and people say  _I'm_  a hentai," Xellos chuckled.

        "I can't do it," the chimera complained, "I can't give Lina this."

        The door to the Fangirls' domain opened and Xellos phased into view. "Oh ladies, Zel-chan's come for a visit!" he said gleefully.

        There were loud cries of "Xellos-sama!!!", "Zel-chan!!!", and "Fresh Meat!!!!" then a cloud of dust appeared as the girls headed for the door. The chimera quickly shut it again and ran to join Lina and company.

        "Okay! Okay! I'll do it!" he yelled over his shoulder.

        "It's soooo hard to get good help these days," Xellos said ruefully then returned to his castle to prepare for a very special visitor.

 

        Lina's stomach voiced its opinion of the passage of time. "Say Lina," Gourry piped up, "I'm kinda hungry too you got anything to eat?" The girl shook her head mournfully, then looked at Zelgadis, hoping he might have something on him, which in fact he did.

        Sighing, he handed Lina the red, juicy apple he so wanted to be rid of. "Here," he said looking away. He did not want to see the redhead's demise.

        "Thanks a heap, Zel!" With that, she greedily bit into the fruit with a loud crunch, which made the chimera wince. She ignored Gourry's hungry and plaintive stares. "Geberon (Get your own)," she said around the red morsel.

        "I have some beef jerky," Jiiras said not desiring to be drowned by Gourry's drool. Gourry snatched the pack of Slim Jims before they were even out of the fox's pouch.

        Lina suddenly felt strange and leaned against a tree as she began to feel light-headed. "You gave me a rotten apple, Stone Boy," she said, slowly sliding down to the ground for her legs refused to support her weight. "Everything's spinning."

        "I knew it!" Zelgadis said, then ran off into the trees. "Damn you Xellos!!! Damn you to Hell!!!! And damn me too!" Tears began to water the soil below his feet as the chimera mourned the loss of his only friend.

 

        Had it been an ordinary rotten apple, Lina would have recovered by now and walking along with Jiiras and Gourry, but it wasn't. For she had forgotten just who Jiiras and Gourry were. She couldn't even remember what it was she was doing in the forest in the first place. She tried to remember, but it hurt her head and eyes too much so she just decided to take a little nap instead. She was tired and near exhaustion from the day's events, whatever they were.

        The apple fell from her hand and landed with a soft thunk on the dead leaves covering the ground. She thought she heard soft music start to play and she smiled, humming to herself along with the tune.


	10. Chapter 10

        Xellos sat at the window in his chambers, a group of glass crystal balls twirling in his hands. Smiling he tossed one after another out the window, each floating effortlessly on the wind. He watched them as they faded from view. "Soon, Lina-chan. Very soon," he said softly, knowing victory was near.

 

 

        In the forest, Lina sleepily opened her eyes to find several bubbles floating around and above her. Gazing into one, she could see tiny figures dancing to a waltz. Suddenly a awfully familiar redheaded figure filled the bubble and she lost all conscious thought for a one tiny moment.

        But it was enough for the girl to vanish completely from the spot she'd been sitting.

 

 

        The red haired girl blinked to find herself standing at the entrance of an enormous ballroom. Glancing around she saw various people all wearing tuxedos and evening gowns. They were all masked as they filled the dance floor in the center. A few lingered on the sides idly chatting amongst themselves. She vaguely wondered if she should even be there, but quickly dismissed the thought as her reflection in the large mirror across from her caught her eye.

        She was wearing an emerald green ball gown of silk. The sleeves were off the shoulder and she blushed slightly at the low cut of the front. Her red hair was held back by sets of barrettes adorned with pearls and emeralds, their luster making her hair seem like spun copper threads. Around her bare neck was a  _very_  expensive looking necklace of diamonds and amethysts. A matching pair of earrings dangled from her ears. Her arms were covered with a pair of cut-off matching gloves, her fingers peeking out under the fabric. She noticed she was the only one without a mask.

        At first she couldn't believe it was her, but she was the only petite redhead there. Smiling to herself, obviously pleased with how she looked. She saw a food table off in the distance and began to head for it. After taking a couple steps, she stopped, thinking there was somewhere else she had to be. She furrowed her brow as she tried to remember what was so that made her want to leave such an elegant party as this.

        When she couldn't think of anything, the redhead shrugged her shoulders and headed back to her goal. The music stopped then started again, playing a waltz. She was about to reach for a delicious looking plate of hor d'ouvres when she felt someone brush up against her back and wrap his arms around her waist.

        "I knew you'd come," purred a seductive voice in her ear as the figure bent his head to place a kiss on her neck. Turning around she saw the host of the party, Xellos the Mazoku King, standing before her. He looked wonderfully handsome in the dark amethyst colored tuxedo he was wearing. The pants hugged his slim legs in all the right places. He was wearing a white shirt under the jacket, which was tucked in and held in place by a light violet cummerbund. A red rose on his lapel completed the ensemble. "You're beautiful, Lina-chan," he said removing the mask had been wearing and opened his eyes, revealing two jewels that matched the amethysts around her neck and dangling from her ears perfectly. " _Very_  beautiful," he added as he ran a gloved hand across her cheek.

        Blushing, she murmured a thank you. For a moment she stared at the king wanting to say something, but looking into those eyes of his made her forget what it was she had wanted to say. He smiled at her seductively, making her blush even more.

        "How about a dance, my sweet?" he asked as the yet to be seen band began another soft, slow tune. She hesitated but only for a moment then let the handsome man lead her to the dance floor.

        The other couples parted a way for them and closed the gap as soon as they the center. Several of the female guests began to whisper amongst themselves jealously as the king began to dance with the petite girl. The two danced for what seemed an eternity. Time did not move for either of them.

        Slow song after slow song played and Lina not once complained of getting bored, tired or hungry. All she wanted was to stay in Xellos' arms as they moved around the dance floor. Even if she had wanted to stop, she wouldn't have been able to for the Mazoku King's arms were wrapped tightly, yet gently around her. There was no way he was going to let her go this time.

        Smiling to himself, the purple haired king silently counted the hours as the couples around them danced and slowly dissipated till they were the only two remaining dancers. His partner cared not to notice and put her head on his shoulder, starting to drift asleep. Somewhere a clock chimed, signaling the midnight hour, but his little Lina was sound asleep by then. Chuckling softly, Xellos picked her up and carried her up to his chambers.

        "Only one hour left, and you'll be mine, sweet Lina-chan." He gently laid her down onto the bed and summoned a female mazoku servant to undress her. He gently brushed away a stray lock of hair before placing a kiss on her lips. The red haired girl stirred a brief moment then went back to sleep, a huge grin on her face.

        Xellos left the room and went to check on Baby Amelia and to wait for the hour to pass. He had won. This one had fought far longer than any of the other girls who'd called on him before. He admired her for that, but she had been foolish enough to let her childish dreams take control. She should have known better than to tangle with him.

 

        Lina woke with a pounding headache. She struggled against the covers and forced herself to sit up. Instead of the forest she and her friends had been in earlier, she was in an elaborately furnished bedroom. The bed she was now sitting in was a four poster mahogany deal with black and purple satin sheets. 'Xellos' colors,' she thought idly.

        Then she remembered everything. She shot out of bed to open the door only to see that she was dressed only in a light pink silk nightgown.

        "Leaving so soon, pet?" came the voice of the very person she was so anxious to find. "I thought you were having a good time."

        Turning around, she saw the Mazoku King sitting on the bed, dressed in a purple velvet robe on top of a pair of black silk pj's. She looked at him, then at herself fearing the worst had happened. Xellos just smiled cheerfully, enjoying the girl's fear. "Please don't tell me we..." She couldn't finish the statement, the thought of sharing the same bed as the purple haired man both disgusted and excited her. He continued to smile at her.

        "W-what time is it?" she asked, already knowing what he'd say.

        "Time for you to admit defeat, I think," he replied coming up to her. She backed against the door, her hand frantically searching for the knob. "You're not afraid of me now are you?" he asked, smirking. "And here I thought you rather enjoyed my company, especially after last night."

        Her hand grasped the knob, but it refused to turn. The door for all she could tell was locked and she was trapped. He was now mere inches away from her, his cheerful smile never leaving his face. She tried desperately to remember what had happened after she bit the apple Zelgadis had given her.

        She remembered getting dizzy and lightheaded after the first bite and being forced to slump against a tree to steady herself. After that was a blur. She vaguely remembered someone playing a slow song and dancing with someone. 'It can't be! That was a dream! Wasn't it?' she thought. "K-keep away!"

        Xellos brushed his hand across her cheek. "I'm not as bad as you think I am, Lina-chan. I'm willing to make a deal with you."

        Having the king so close, was making her feel the things she felt when a handsome boy looked her way. "W-what kind of deal?" she stammered, but not from fear.

        Xellos decided to reel in his prize. "I'll return Amelia if you'll remain her in her place." Lina's eyes went wide. "Otherwise, I'll have to turn your baby sister into a mazoku. You  _did_  ask me to take her after all."

        Lina silently swore at her stupidity. She didn't want to stay with the king, but she also really didn't want the baby to become one of his mazoku. Also a tiny part of her screamed for her to accept. It was the part that was tired of being lonely, tired of never knowing what it was like to be loved. "Y-you promise n-not to hurt her?"

        He opened his eyes and she found herself wanting to lose herself in them. "You have my word," he said brushing his lips in the softest of kisses on her cheek.

        She considered her choices for a few brief moments then looked at Xellos, her body trembling slightly under his intense gaze. "I'll stay," she murmured.

        The king smiled triumphantly. "I knew you would, sweet," he said, "I promise you'll never regret this, love." He carefully wrapped his arms around her and kissed her passionately on the lips. Lina struggled the first few moments, then decided that being the Mazoku King's lover wasn't a bad choice compared to what he could have done to her.

        "Shall we go back to bed, pet? It's still rather early," he whispered into her ear as he bent his head to kiss her neck.

        The petite girl blushed, but let him sweep her up and carry her back to the bed. As he laid her down again, he gave her another mind-blowing kiss. This time he met no resistance. A smile crept over his face, Lina was learning fast. Soon she forgot the reason she'd been there in the first place and succumbed to the passion building inside her.

 

        Inside the nursery, Baby Amelia slept peacefully, dreaming of a purple haired king and a red haired princess with a temper as fiery as her hair.

 

~Owari~

 


End file.
